Kiss Me Sweetly
by lunaryu
Summary: Himuro visits Kagami. Kuroko is not amused. Murasakibara jealously pouts. Aomine, Kise and Midorima team up to give Kagami a lesson for messing up Kuroko's feeling, and Takao can only feel sorry for the redhead. In which Kagami is victimized for being too kind and misunderstood. Murasaki/Himuro, Kaga/Kuro, Ao/Kise, Mido/Taka. -Five Shots- FINAL PART UP!
1. Part 1

**Kiss Me Sweetly**

**Fandom:** Kuroko no Basuke

**Rating:** Pg-15/T

**Genre:** Humor/Romance/Drama

**Pairing:** Murasakibara/Himuro, established Kagami/Kuroko, Aomine/Kise, Midorima/Takao

**Summary:** _Himuro visits Kagami. Kuroko is not amused. Murasakibara jealously pouts. Aomine, Kise and Midorima team up to give Kagami a lesson for messing up Kuroko's feeling, and Takao can only feel sorry for the redhead. In which Kagami is victimized for being too kind and misunderstood._

* * *

**Disclaimer: Fujimaki Tadatoshi owns Kuroko no Basuke and its characters, luna only plays with them without permission (but it's FUN XD). No profit is made from this fan fiction.**

**Warning: **_slight AU and maybe AR for some scenes, shounen ai/yaoi, a little bit oOC-ness, language_.

**A/N: **Yay! Another installment for miniseries of GoM finding their own matching partner! Like your guess, Mura/Himu will be the center of attention this time! XD Of course Kaga/Kuro, Ao/Kise and Mido/Taka will be here as well. Now, enjoy!

**An important thing you need to know before reading. **Himuro is older than Murasakibara and Kagami, so he's supposed to be in second year, but I put him in a first year here for a certain reason that will be revealed later. Please just ignore the inconsistency with the manga (if there is, because it's not yet mentioned in what year Himuro is in Yousen anyway), I'll try to make him as IC as possible.

**EDIT:** this chapter has been beta-ed by **tora-chan83**, thank you very much for the help! I owe you!

* * *

**Kiss Me Sweetly**

**_Part 1_**

* * *

The first time Murasakibara Atsushi met Himuro Tatsuya, when the dark-haired teen transferred to Yousen, he thought Himuro was just an ordinary guy, another pretty face without talent, and he wasn't in the slightest interested in him.

Okay, Murasakibara would admit that Himuro had soft appearance and beautiful form, and probably that alluring aura that made people feel safe around him, but he was just an ordinary guy. There was nothing special about him.

Girls obviously liked Himuro's look and he spoke like a gentleman. At that, Murasakibara was reminded slightly of Akashi.

Akashi was also a gentleman despite being scary sometimes. However, Akashi was special because even Murasakibara couldn't stop Akashi on and off the court, no matter what he did. Besides, Himuro couldn't be compared to Akashi at all because he lacked that imposing aura and authority in everything.

Himuro Tatsuya was nothing. That was what Murasakibara thought at first.

Well, until Himuro scored against Murasakibara in a basketball game, that is.

It was a test when Himuro decided to join Yousen High basketball club because he liked the sport. Murasakibara was told to mark him despite his reluctance. Still, he remembered blinking once, unable to comprehend what happened. He was sure he had jumped and towered above Himuro when the lattertook a shot, but somehow, he couldn't touch the ball.

Himuro smiled kindly at him and Murasakibara was intrigued.

"Just now, what did you do?" Murasakibara asked, intimidating, putting his hand on Himuro's head, feeling the urge to crush him slightly.

Himuro was still smiling, even when he suddenly pinched Murasakibara's hand. Murasakibara jerked away immediately as he pulled his stung hand back, staring at Himuro disbelievingly.

"That is not a polite way to treat an older guy, Murasakibara-kun," Himuro had said, still with a smile, but there was a threat in his voice and Murasakibara was reminded once again of Akashi.

Maybe this Himuro guy was more interesting than he thought. After all, despite his shorter, slenderer body, he could still score against Murasakibara, the best center in Japan. Even though Murasakibara wasn't exactly defending seriously, it was still quite impressive to shoot so smoothly like that, breaking his iron defense.

_Mirage Shoot_, Himuro had named it and it was impossible to block, apparently. It was cool.

"Older?" Then it dawned on Murasakibara as he caught it awhile later. It was weird because Himuro was in the same year as Murasakibara.

"Yes. There's a reason why I'm still in first year, but I'm older than you," Himuro nodded swiftly, his kind smile never leaving his expression.

Himuro turned around to speak with their female coach, Masako Araki, for a moment. She looked positively ecstatic seeing Himuro's skill and it seemed their other regulars, Kensuke Fukui, Kenichi Okamura and Wei Liu, also took a liking on him immediately because he was very supple and polite despite his almost brooding look.

Well, Murasakibara didn't hate him at first glance because Himuro seemed to have more talents. Although, when Himuro turned back to approach him again, Murasakibara didn't expect to have the older man reach for his hand and then put something on Murasakibara's palm. "A friendly greeting for you," he said with a nice wonderful smile.

Murasakibara stared at the candy. It was a nicely wrapped pink colored lollipop and he felt like a star just hit his forehead as he looked once again at the way Himuro smiles.

_It's sweet._

"Muro-chin is a _sweet_ guy," Murasakibara decided as he unwrapped and then put the round lollipop into his mouth, tasting the sweet-sour flavor of strawberry which quickly became his most favorite amongst the other flavors.

_As sweet as the taste of the candy—_Murasakibara thought, immediately liking Himuro as well because of it.

It was rather surprising that Murasakibara remembered Himuro's name the first time he tried, and that he already added the suffix '–chin' to sweeten it out.

Himuro blinked once, seeming to be surprised, before he chuckled in amusement. "Atsushi is a sweet name too," he replied friendlily and Murasakibara didn't mind the way Himuro called his first name so casually with his sweet voice.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

The first time Murasakibara realized that Himuro was _probably _special to him was when he saw the older boy cry. It was during the intense battle against the Seirin basketball team, with Kuroko and his new light, Kagami Taiga, and he couldn't believe that he was losing.

Forget it. Murasakibara was already half way on giving up because, damn it! It was just a basketball match. Why did he have to work so hard in a sport he didn't even like?

But then, Himuro slapped him and started crying on top of him while clenching Murasakibara's collar.

"_It breaks my heart seeing you giving up when you are the one holding the talent that I desire so much!"_

It struck Murasakibara's core, not his words –_mind you—_, but Himuro's sad, emotional and tearful expression.

Himuro was a calm guy. He was always nice and gentle, and he took care of Murasakibara like Himuro was his mother instead of his friend, plus he always treated him to the nicest and the sweetest snacks. He also had that composure and patience which could be on par with a saint's. No wonder that it moved Murasakibara so much when Himuro broke down and cried in front of him, because of _him_.

Murasakibara actually entered the zone because of it.

Murasakibara thought, that if it was for Himuro, no matter if it was basketball or anything else, he would be able to get serious and love it.

Even though they still lost the match in the end, it was the first time Murasakibara felt the pain of losing. Surprisingly, despite his claim that he would quit basketball because he lost, he also felt that he couldn't accept it. Basketball was nothing to him, but why did it feel so painful?

"_I may not have the talent of Generation of Miracle, but I won't lose this match! Yousen will win!"_

Himuro's desperate expression, his conviction… Murasakibara failed to help Himuro accomplish that vow. That was what hurt him.

Murasakibara cried and Himuro cried as well, but he smiled after that. Himuro went over to the red head of Seirin, Kagami Taiga. Then while admitting defeat, Himuro passed something on Kagami's hand.

A necklace… with a silver ring as the pendant….

Whenever Murasakibara had asked what that necklace was, Himuro always answered that it was a symbol of his 'brotherhood' with Kagami Taiga. He was Himuro's _special_ person, a person he valued so highly, and Himuro seemed to like the redhead very much.

"_I came to Japan to have a rematch with him, because our last basketball match in America was very disappointing,"_ was the reason Himuro gave Murasakibara after he asked him why Himuro came to Japan. However, when the older man spoke about Kagami, he softened his expression even more than usual.

Murasakibara itched to ask if Himuro actually liked Kagami more than just a brother, but he couldn't because Himuro was determined to beat him in a serious match and unnecessary questions would distract him.

Akashi had told Murasakibara to think it over before saying something stupid that might create a crack in the team. The one time Murasakibara ever did that, it pissed Kuroko off and Akashi scolded him for antagonizing their phantom sixth player.

Apparently, Himuro was the same type as Kuroko. He wasn't a genius like the GoM, but he reached his current level through hard work.

Himuro really loved basketball and he didn't mind working hard to get stronger. Murasakibara was supposed to hate that kind of person the most, but for some strange reasons… he couldn't hate Himuro. It led him to think that Himuro wasn't just a teammate for him.

Himuro was fascinating. Everything about him attracted Murasakibara to him. He was a very wonderful and nice person. That was the reason why Murasakibara favored him the most amongst the others, maybe a little bit more than Akashi. That itself spoke volume, since he always thought there was no one more amazing than Akashi Seijuurou.

Thus, after barely registering his confusing feelings towards Himuro, Murasakibara thought that he could at least make some sense out of it by telling the older boy about it. When the match with Seirin was over, and he had regained some composure, he tried to find Himuro only to find him injured.

"Muro-chin, what…? What's with the injuries?" Murasakibara actually dropped his snacks when he saw the limping boy who was being supported by none other than Kagami Taiga himself.

"I-I'm fine," Himuro smiled at him, albeit painfully.

"No, you're not! A psycho just hurt you!" Kagami, on the other hand, looked frantic and angry.

Murasakibara didn't like the way Kagami was holding Himuro, so he walked over to them and immediately lifted Himuro away from Kagami's hold, surprising both the redhead and the raven.

"A-Atsushi?" Himuro sounded confused, his voice slightly muffled on Murasakibara's clothes.

"What are you doing?" Kagami asked, eyes widened and looking baffled.

"I'm going to bring Muro-chin to a doctor," Murasakibara said while pouting childishly at Kagami. "Go away. I can take care of Muro-chin," he continued before walking away with Himuro nestled comfortably in his arms.

"Eh, but wait a—!" Kagami seemed about to chase after them, but Himuro stopped him.

"I'm fine, _Tiger_. Just watch the match. Your opponent in the next match is going to be decided in the match after this, right?"

"True, Kise-chin will get whiny if you miss his match," Murasakibara added.

Kagami looked hesitant for a moment before nodding. "I'll leave Tatsuya to you, Murasakibara," and then he turned and walked away.

Murasakibara held Himuro tighter. "Muro-chin… who hurt you?" he asked as he brought Himuro to the health office in the dome.

"Ah… one of the players from Fukuda Sōgō, I think…" Himuro replied slowly, sounding rather unsure.

_Fukuda Sōgō? Isn't that the name of the school which is Kise-chin's next opponent?_

"Do you know the name?" Murasakibara asked again, trying to be calm, but inside he was boiling in anger. Someone had dared to hurt Himuro, damn it!

"Kise said that he was an ex-teammate from Teikou… Haizaki Shougo or something," Himuro answered slowly.

Murasakibara widened his eyes. "Haizaki… Shougo…." Then he gritted his teeth. He remembered that name. Akashi kicked that guy out of the team back then. He was back now?

_Worse, he dared to hurt Muro-chin…!—_Murasakibara was positively enraged. _Unforgivable…! I'll get him for this later!_

Even though Murasakibara didn't exactly understand why he felt so furious, he couldn't just let this slide. He only knew one thing and that was _'no one hurts Himuro and gets away with it!'_

However, Murasakibara couldn't _exactly _extract the revenge because Aomine seemed to have beaten him to it.

After the match between Kaijou and Fukuda Sōgō was over, and after making sure that Himuro was treated and delivered to the hotel safely, Murasakibara had been waiting to ambush Haizaki, but before he could surprise the guy, Aomine had called out Haizaki first.

Murasakibara watched from the sideline. They were talking about something intense and serious that he couldn't make out and then, Aomine seemed to be furious before suddenly punching Haizaki's face so hard such that he was instantly knocked out and on the ground.

Murasakibara raised his eyebrows, surprised at the turn of events.

"Now… what to do…?" Aomine seemed to be rather nervous after that.

"Mine-chin," Murasakibara called and Aomine jumped in surprise.

"Ugh, Murasakibara?" Aomine looked at him with widened eyes. "Y-you… saw that?" He looked slightly uneasy and a bit sheepish.

"Yes… and it's not enough. What if I add a kick to his stomach?" Murasakibara intended to do just that, his sadistic side very tempted.

"Don't. With your strength he could die. Besides, you would hurt your legs further," Aomine reminded him.

Murasakibara pouted slightly for being reminded of why he lost his own match that day. "But he hurt Muro-chin," he muttered, protesting.

"I know. This asshole purposely stepped on Kise's foot too during the match. Just watching him makes me sick," Aomine growled spitefully while glaring daggers at the unconscious man on the ground.

"Then let's break one of his legs," Murasakibara suggested. All the more reason to get rid of Haizaki from the basketball world forever; he even dared to hurt one of the GoM members. Akashi wouldn't let this slide. Haizaki was dead no matter what.

"I said, _don't_. You can get sued and banned from playing official basketball matches if you hurt a fellow player," Aomine grunted.

"But Mine-chin punched him," Murasakibara pointed out and Aomine sweated slightly.

"He was about to sabotage Kise. I had to stop him, so I had no choice. Besides, he won't tell a soul that he got knocked out by _my_ single punch," Aomine reasoned, seeming to find comfort in how prideful Haizaki was.

"I still want to hurt him," Murasakibara scowled disagreeably, almost throwing a tantrum. He wouldn't be satisfied if he didn't at least hurt Haizaki himself.

Aomine sighed deeply. "Just what makes you so angry with Haizaki? It's not like you have a personal problem with him, and it isn't like you to be troubled about other people outside the game," he steered Murasakibara to leave with him.

Murasakibara was still glaring at Haizaki hatefully before going along. "He hurt Muro-chin," he repeated.

"So you said, but… why are you so angry over that?" Aomine raised his eyebrows, seeming to be puzzled.

"Because… Muro-chin is important to me," Murasakibara answered honestly.

Aomine blinked. "What?" He looked dumbfounded now.

"I like Muro-chin and Haizaki hurt him. Of course I'm mad," Murasakibara huffed, stepping a little too hard in irritation.

"I… see…" Aomine didn't seem to be sure, but he didn't ask further.

When Murasakibara went back to the hotel, Himuro was already fast asleep on one of the twin beds in their shared room. Murasakibara checked on the older guy for a moment. His injuries were bandaged and he seemed to be at peace somehow. Maybe he drank the prescription from the doctor.

_Thank god he doesn't seem in pain_—the thought fleeted inside Murasakibara's mind and he couldn't help smiling slightly.

For a while afterwards, Murasakibara watched the dark haired boy sleep. Himuro did have a very beautiful face, especially that mole under his right eyes. It was cute. Murasakibara couldn't help admiring Himuro's form for awhile when he realized his heart started to pick up pace.

_Huh?_—Murasakibara was a little confused. Suddenly he felt rather hot and… somehow… he wanted to….

Murasakibara leaned closer to the sleeping boy and was slowly planting a kiss on Himuro's mole before he realized what he was doing and pulled back immediately.

"What… was that…?" the purple haired boy couldn't help asking himself, totally confused.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Kuroko won a couple of tickets to play at the amusement park.

…

"What should I do with them?" the teal haired boy stared at the one-day-full-free-rides tickets while thinking. He didn't have any siblings to go with. His parents wouldn't be home as well since the date on the tickets was for a weekend.

_Maybe I should ask Kagami-kun to go on a date once in awhile_—was in Kuroko's mind as he pocketed the tickets.

Thus, he processed to tell Kagami the next day when they were going home after their basketball practice.

"Kagami-kun, let's go to amusement park this Saturday."

Kagami blinked as he turned to face the expressionless boy beside him. "This weekend?"

Kuroko nodded. "I won two tickets for one-day-full-free-rides." He fished his uniform pocket and pulled the tickets out, showing them to Kagami.

Kagami looked rather sheepish. "Uh… I can't during weekend. Tatsuya is coming over."

Kuroko twitched slightly, but his expression didn't change much, so Kagami probably didn't notice. "I see…" He pulled the tickets back. His feelings were rather conflicted, but he couldn't say anything about that. After all, for Kagami, Himuro was an important _brother_.

Just like Kuroko treasured Aomine and the other GoM members, Kagami treasured Himuro because he was the one who brought Kagami to love basketball. Kuroko understood that, so he couldn't be selfish.

Kuroko even encouraged Kagami to make up with Himuro after Seirin defeated Yousen. It was interrupted by Haizaki at that time, but he believed that Kagami and Himuro must have reconciled after the tournament or something, or else Himuro wouldn't be troubled to visit Kagami on the weekend so casually from Akita, right?

"Then these tickets are wasted on me," Kuroko mumbled then, pocketing those tickets again.

"Sorry, Kuroko. I'll make it up to you at Sunday. How about we go together, you, me and Tatsuya?" Kagami said, smiling slightly.

Now _that_ irked Kuroko. "It is fine. You can spend weekend and Sunday with Himuro-san. I will not bother your reunion." Kuroko quickened his steps without looking at Kagami's face and the red head was forced to walk faster as well despite his longer strides.

"Wait, Kuroko?" Kagami sounded a bit confused as he chased after Kuroko, probably not realizing that he had tried to include Himuro in _their_ date, the first time Kuroko mustered his courage to do the _asking on a date_ part.

_Stupid Kagami-kun…_—Kuroko thought, slightly irritated, as he kept walking. He knew that sometimes, his old friends also interrupted his date with Kagami, but that was just by pure chance, not because Kuroko wanted it. Kagami was a bit insensitive to actually suggest an outing with Himuro tagging along together.

This was depressing. Why did Kuroko get jealous of someone who was only a 'brother' to Kagami? Didn't make any sense. Loving someone was always so troublesome.

_Maybe I will give these tickets to someone that can use them_.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"Tickets to amusement park?" Kise Ryouta's eyes sparkled. Kuroko had called Kise and informed him that he had free tickets to play in amusement park. "Of course I can go! When will we go?"

"_Ah… I only want to give the tickets to you, Kise-kun. Since Kagami-kun cannot make it at Saturday, maybe you can use it with Aomine-kun or something,"—_was Kuroko's even reply from the phone.

"Eeeh, but it won't be as fun! I thought we could go on double date or something," Kise pouted. "Come on. Please tag along, Kuroko-chi! Besides, Aomine-chi has a bad habit on being so damn bold outside if it's just the two of us. He's such an exhibitionist pervert." The blond groaned a little bit, still feeling rather sore from his and Aomine's intercourse last night.

_That Ahomine and his insatiable desire! I can't believe I let him do me even though I have basketball practice today!_—Kise really regretted the rash decision. Thanks to that he got yelled at by his coach and his senpai for not being able to move properly because of the sore muscles.

"Kise! What are you doing still in the locker room? The gym is almost closed!" Kasamatsu Yukio's voice boomed from the door, surprising the blond.

"Ah," Kise held the mouthpiece of the cell-phone before responding to his senior. "Wait a moment, Senpai! I'll be right there!" Then he got back to speak to Kuroko. "Sorry, I have to go. Later I'll tell Aomine-chi about it. I'll call Midorima-chi as well. Who knows? He might want to come along with Takao-kun."

"_Ah, but I only have two tickets with me,"—_Kuroko said.

"No problem! I can always buy the others' share!" Kise chirped while quickly putting all his stuff, unorganized, inside his sport bag, grabbing it as he fled to the door. "See ya, Kuroko-chi! I'll text you later, okay?" blond said, joining Kasamatsu at the gym door before they left together.

"…_well, if you insist… Later then, Kise-kun,"_—Kuroko's voice sounded resigned before he hung up.

"Huh?" Kise stared at his cell-phone oddly as he walked. "Kuroko-chi sounded depressed just now. Is it that bad that he can't go with Kagami-chi once? They can always have a date whenever they want to, right?" he pocketed the cell-phone while mumbling confusedly.

"What? Another love problem?" Kasamatsu looked at his junior with a disinterested look.

"Aww~, Senpai, it's not about me this time. It's Kuroko-chi~!" Kise smiled cheerily at the shorter dark haired older boy beside him.

"Good lord. You and your troublesome friends…. I can't believe you're dating Aomine of all people, like there aren't any more girls left in the planet," Kasamatsu grumbled, still looking pissed.

"Oh come on, Senpai. Aomine-chi is a wonderful guy!" Kise pouted at him. Kasamatsu had yet to give his an approval for Kise's boyfriend.

"A _wonderful_ guy who made you cry and then distracted you from practice and worse, _did it with you_ knowing that you had practice today," venom was practically dripping from Kasamatsu's sarcastic words.

Kise laughed nervously. His captain was really mad this time. He hoped Kasamatsu wouldn't meet Aomine anytime soon or Kasamatsu would surely kicked Aomine's ass. Despite being shorter and smaller, Kasamatsu was very brave and if it was about protecting his team, he could be as scary as hell. Not even Aomine would stand a chance against Kasamatsu in his mother-hen mode.

"So, what about Kuroko," Kasamatsu looked considerably calmer now, after cursing a certain tan skinned boy under his breath, which wasn't missed by the fidgeting Kise.

"Eh… Kuroko-chi asked if I wanted to use his free amusement park tickets, because Kagami-chi can't go with him this Saturday," Kise said, playing with his bangs.

"Hoo, and they are dating too, huh?" Kasamatsu shook his head at that.

"Yes! It's a bit unnerving that a brute like Kagami-chi is with a delicate boy like Kuroko-chi, but… well, they look good together," Kise smiled more sincerely now and Kasamatsu must have seen it because he put a small smile on his face as well.

"Well, I believe Kagami is better because he _doesn't_ do his boyfriend knowing they have basketball practice the next day," was Kasamatsu's scathing reply.

Kise cried his crocodile tears now. It seemed to him that Kasamatsu wouldn't let that go. He'd better warn Aomine to watch out for his neck the next time they had any official match or practice match with each other.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"Going to amusement park together? Double dates? Who would want to do something as useless as that?" Midorima Shintarou grumbled in annoyance as he got a phone call from Kise in the middle of his basketball practice.

Ootsubo was glaring daggers at his back for actually receiving a call in the middle of practice session, but it was still one of Midorima's 'three selfish things he could ask for a day', so he ignored the captain completely.

"_Don't say that, Midorima-chi. You should ask Takao-kun on a date once in awhile~,"_—Kise replied in a playful tone.

A flush colored Midorima's face instantly. "W-wha—who—who would ask him on a date?" He raised his voice in shock and disbelief. He hung up the phone abruptly, his panting and unusual reactions obviously attracting attention judging from the way many pairs of eyes were on him. "What?" He barked at the curious audience and they immediately looked away from him.

Ootsubo, Kimura and Miyaji though, still looked dumbfounded and Takao kept staring at Midorima in wonder.

_How the hell did Kise find out?!_—Midorima's mind screamed in alert at that. This was supposed to be a secret. He had been extra careful and he had reprimanded Takao over and over again if he acted suspiciously.

A few seconds later, Midorima's cell-phone rang again. He narrowed his eyes at the offending device and answered it once again.

"_Please, Midorima-chi. It's obvious even before you two got together. Come on, it will be fun! Let's play in amusement park together!"_—Kise was laughing so _loudly_ and joyfully in the phone that Midorima had to bring the device away from his ear.

_Damn him!_—Midorima pushed his glasses up his nose-bridge and scowled, still trying to hide his blush and embarrassment. He composed himself for a minute before he found his voice again.

"_Hello~, earth to Midorima-chi. Are you still there?"_—Kise's voice sounded very annoying.

"Even though I wanted to ask him on a date, _which I don't_, I wouldn't go to an event as stupid as double dates. Enjoy your day. Good bye." Midorima hung up once again and proceeded to turn off his cell-phone for good, lest Kise wasn't done bothering him.

"Idiotic blond," Midorima grumbled and turned around with an annoyed huff, but he almost jumped in shock as Takao was suddenly in front of him. He stared at Midorima with sparkling eyes.

"T-Takao? What?" Midorima's heart beat a mile per minute facing his _closet _boyfriend so closely like that.

"Shin-chan… let's play in amusement park~!" Takao was grinning excitedly, obviously catching Midorima and Kise's conversation because Kise was being so loud.

"What? No!" Midorima refused with all of his might, his face re-heating again. "Do you have any idea how disclosed that site is?!"

_Is Takao insane?! We agreed to keep our relationship a secret! Going on a date in amusement park which is famous as a dating spot doesn't scream 'secrecy' at all!_

Takao pouted slightly. "Oh, come on. We can pretend that it's just an outing between friends, okay?" Takao threw him a puppy look and Midorima twitched slightly at that.

"Don't pull that expression on me, Takao. It won't work," Midorima warned, the heat getting hotter and more intense, and he was sure he was going to blush if he hadn't already.

"Please~?" Takao's eyes were glassy now and Midorima couldn't take being stared at with those dark enticing—no, no, no! Who said Takao's eyes were enticing? He must have lost his mind!

"Okay!" Midorima shouted in exasperation, pushing Takao's face away from him. Then he just realized that he had agreed to go on date with Takao in front of the team.

Midorima looked upward in panic only to see Miyaji and Kimura shake their head in amused laughs and Ootsubo drop his jaw on the ground.

"I—it's not what it looks like!" Midorima quickly explained, trying to fix the damage, while pushing his glasses up his nose-bridge _again_, getting very nervous that he had blown everything up.

"Oh, it's totally what it looks like," Takao exclaimed wiggling his eyebrows before he laughed happily, not helping Midorima's image and shame at all.

"TAKAO!" Midorima actually yelled in total annoyance at the dark haired boy. Takao just ran away still snickering, looking very cheery. Midorima had to chase after him while shouting obscenities and threats of bodily harm because Takao had no shame and discretion at all.

"They do realize that it's obvious since day one, right?" Miyaji asked Kimura, sweat dropping from the back of his head.

Kimura nodded agreeably. "Only Captain Ootsubo will miss it."

"What?" Ootsubo looked like he was still in shock, his mouth open widely and his eyes as wide as saucers.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Tatsuya Himuro thought that… lately he was being _watched_.

Himuro didn't exactly know who it was, but he thought it was probably one of his fans. He wasn't as popular as Murasakibara, but he did have some admirers and it might just be them. Still… he didn't think that he would be stared at _everywhere. _At class, at practice, at _bathroom _(_that's illegal, oi!_—an inner voice which suspiciously resembled Kagami's shouted inside Himuro's head) and when he was on the way home as well.

_A stalker?_—Himuro thought rather worriedly. Maybe he needed to take precaution before something bad happened.

Himuro turned around and noticed Murasakibara's amethyst eyes on him.

_Atsushi?_—Himuro was quite surprised at that discovery.

"What's wrong?" Murasakibara asked, seeming to notice Himuro's odd stare.

"No, just… lately you seem to follow me everywhere, Atsushi," Himuro smiled rather nervously at the younger and taller boy.

Murasakibara tilted his head aside slightly. "I can't?" he asked while making 'a thrown out puppy look' and Himuro was very weak against that expression.

"Of course you can," Himuro sighed slightly, his smile softening. If it was just Murasakibara, Himuro thought it was okay.

Murasakibara smiled back at him as he opened another lollipop to suck. "I like it," he suddenly said.

Himuro raised his eyebrows. "The candy?" he asked.

Murasakibara shook his head. "Being with Muro-chin," he corrected and Himuro blinked once, surprised for the second time in five minutes.

Murasakibara rarely said he enjoyed something so Himuro was very taken aback that he actually enjoyed being with him. Himuro still smiled though, because he was happy that Murasakibara liked his company.

"I like being with Atsushi too," Himuro replied softly reaching up to touch Murasakibara's arm gently. "Make sure you brush your teeth before going to sleep, okay? A sweet-tooth like Atsushi easily catches cavities after all." Now Himuro took a small sweet sugar-free candy from his pocket and put it on Murasakibara's palm.

"Un," Murasakibara nodded with another smile and Himuro liked that smile as well.

"Good boy," Himuro stood on his toes and ruffled Murasakibara's purple hair.

Murasakibara then reached down to hug Himuro so suddenly, surprising the dark haired teen. "Atsushi?"

"This Saturday… let's go somewhere together, Muro-chin," Murasakibara asked. Himuro raised his eyebrows at the sudden proposal, but—

"Ah… I can't at Saturday, Atsushi. I am going to visit Taiga in Tokyo and stay over at his place for the weekend," Himuro said, patting Murasakibara's back and Murasakibara's body tensed suddenly.

The violet haired boy immediately released his hug and pulled back, looking Himuro's face with a childish pout. "Why at his place?" He seemed to be mad about something.

"Eh… we'd like to spend some times together…" Himuro said slowly, a bead of sweat forming on his cheek as he noticed that Murasakibara's expression was getting sourer by the seconds.

"Why staying over?" the amethyst eyed boy seemed ready to throw a tantrum.

"Well… Taiga said that… he wanted to re-connect and I want to as well since it's been quite awhile…" Himuro smiled slightly, wondering what they would do in their time together. Maybe they would play the games they liked back then in America, or do something else two high school boys would do to fill their free time.

Murasakibara's expression visibly darkened. "Fine. Do whatever you want. Like I care," he said coldly so suddenly before turning away to leave. "Stupid Muro-chin."

"Eh?" Himuro was very confused now. "W-wait, Atsushi?"

"I don't care anymore. Muro-chin you idiot!" was Murasakibara's loud reply as he increased his speed and ran, leaving a very bewildered Himuro alone on the road.

_Wh—what was that, just now?_

**End of Kiss me Sweetly Part 1**

**Tbc…**

* * *

**A/N: **Okay… so this is the first part of this installment for the collection of mini-series. Unlike the other installments, this one will be three shots or four since there are a lot of characters and relationships that I have to cover… and writing Murasakibara and Himuro's personalities aren't as easy as writing the others. Anyway, what do you think of this one? Constructive criticism is very much needed while I'm making the next part, okay?


	2. Part 2

**Disclaimer and Warning: See Part 1**

**A/N: **I'm very sorry for making you guys wait. I know I'm a slow writer, and Kagami's birthday distracted me (because I made a fan-art and a fic for that first) before updating this. Anyway, thank you very much for reviewing the previous part. Also, those faves and alerts for this story, really MAKE my day ^_^. Now, please enjoy this second part!

Oh, and for all the guests that review, thanks a lot. But I can't reply them because you left neither name nor mail address for me. So, I will just say it here. Whoever you are, I took your notice into consideration, but the fact that in _here, this fic,_ that Himuro is in 1st year is ON PURPOSE. It's not a mistake. I believe I already mentioned that in the **IMPORTANT THING YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE READING** at A/N in previous part. I'd appreciate it if you **READ** it before pointing **a mistake that** **I'SNT A MISTAKE** at all. I hope you understand.

Now, to the story! XD

**Edit: **this chapter has been beta-ed by **tora-chan83**! Thank you very much for your help!

* * *

**Kiss Me Sweetly**

**_Part 2_**

* * *

Murasakibara was sulking.

It was the next day after Murasakibara had a fight with Himuro. The tall, violet haired teen stared at his cell-phone in irritation. Himuro didn't even try to message him. Didn't he at least feel curious as to why Murasakibara got angry at him? Or at least felt guilty?

Okay, maybe the fight was rather one-sided since Himuro didn't seem to understand why Murasakibara got angry, but still…! Himuro said he was done with Kagami. That everything that happened between them was nothing but the past, and he and Murasakibara had vowed to beat that redhead together in their next match.

_Then why is Muro-chin getting chummy with the said enemy?_—the more Murasakibara thought about it, the more aggravated he became.

"Stupid Muro-chin," Murasakibara grumbled while closing the lid of his cell-phone.

Then his stomach suddenly rumbled. Murasakibara needed more snacks to bury his frustration. Being annoyed all the time was quite tiring and he'd like to converse his energy.

The big boy moved to his kitchen and opened one of his cabinets. He blinked in surprise. Apparently, last night he had eaten all his stash in the middle of his moping about Himuro being an idiot while watching some midnight drama on television. All that's left was his least favorite flavor. Murasakibara sighed dejectedly. He needed to restock his snacks and sweets.

"I'm in the mood for some candies…" Murasakibara mumbled slightly putting his index finger on his mouth, before he took out his cell-phone again. He was just about to call Himuro to ask him to accompany him shopping when he remembered that he was still angry with the older boy.

Murasakibara pouted. Today was Saturday anyway. Himuro wouldn't be at home even though he called the dark haired teen. He huffed. It wasn't like he couldn't go by himself… but he tended to get lost if he was alone. Moreover, having to look for a place he wanted to find could be troublesome.

"Well, there's one place where I won't get lost no matter how far away I'm from that area, though," Murasakibara decided. He would visit the store that he had frequented since he was a child, since he could always depend on it to have his favorite snacks and candies.

Murasakibara took his wallet and then went out of his apartment. He walked to the station, and stopped by the ATM booth to retrieve some cash for a train ticket to take a route straight to Tokyo.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Himuro just got off the train and was heading to the east exit of the station when he noticed a tall red haired boy waiting under the big clock just outside. Himuro smiled slightly before calling out "Taiga!" he quickened his pace while waving at Kagami Taiga.

Kagami turned to face Himuro when he heard a familiar voice, and hurriedly called back "Tatsuya!" with a happy face. He looked full of spirit as always.

Himuro stopped in front of Kagami and raised his fist as Kagami bumped it with his own. Both boys then broke into big grins. "You look healthy, Taiga," Himuro smiled nicely. He kind of missed the redhead since the last time they saw each other at Winter Cup.

"Of course, I'm training hard so I can keep winning against you," Kagami clenched both his fists in front of his chest confidently.

"Ha, I won't lose again next time," Himuro felt challenged.

Good. It should be like this. After their long talk with each other, he heard about Kagami's wish to stay as brothers and as rivals at the same time. Himuro had then made another promise with him at that moment, and it was that they faced each other seriously the whole time in any match from then on, but they would still care about each other as a family.

"So, what do you want to do today, Tatsuya?" Kagami asked as they walked down the road outside the station.

"Hmm… do you have any game at your place?" Himuro asked. He'd like to play some games since he couldn't get any of the new popular Japanese games in US.

"Ah, I have a game console at home, but I haven't had a chance to update my game collection at all since I got back to Japan. Too busy with basketball," Kagami scratched his cheek. "Well, we could always visit the game center. There's a good one near my apartment," he shrugged.

"Then let's go there. Ah, but I need to stop by your place to put down my things first," Himuro tapped the fat purple sport bag at his side.

Kagami looked over it and raised his eyebrows. "Huh, that's quite a stuffy bag you have there."

"What are you talking about? I need all my beauty products to treat this flawless skin," Himuro winked slightly and Kagami almost slipped as he took a step.

"Since when have you become so metro?!" Kagami took several steps back while throwing a weirdest gaze at his surrogate brother, face paling and sweating bullets.

Himuro laughed lightly after seeing that very funny reaction. "Really, Taiga, you're overreacting. It's a joke. Can't you take a joke?" He shook his head amusedly. "It's only my clothes and some toiletries, silly."

"W-what? Oh… right, you're not _him_… of course you can joke around, ahaha…" Kagami caressed his chest while laughing nervously.

Himuro raised his visible eyebrow at that, wondering who Kagami was referring to just then. Well, he could always ask him later. After all, they still had today and tomorrow to spend together.

"Okay, show me the way to your home, Taiga," Himuro moved closer to Kagami and the redhead grinned slightly.

"Follow me, bro!" Kagami draped his arm on Himuro's shoulder casually now, and Himuro was happy that both he and Kagami were still comfortable enough to be close with each other, just like when they were still little kids.

Really, Himuro kind of felt stupid now for ever wanting to end their brotherhood at all just because of his personal weakness and jealousy. He should have known that Kagami was a very nice guy who wouldn't intentionally harm him. Himuro had put the younger boy in a tight spot and in a bitter experience before he realized how useless it was to force Kagami to bet and give up on their relationship.

No matter how bad the situation became, Kagami just wouldn't let go. He was that kind of guy, who was very stubborn and bad at giving up. But that was also his finest point, and Himuro was saved by it. He couldn't help feeling very grateful to Kagami now.

_Now, I hope we can stay together like this for a long time…—_was Himuro's thought as they arrived at Kagami's apartment.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"Is everyone here yet?" Kise couldn't help looking around at the spot where he would meet up with everyone else before they headed to amusement park together later.

Surprisingly, there was no one yet. Kise pouted at that. "Aww~ what is this? Am I the first to arrive?"

Kise sulked now. They had agreed to meet at ten o'clock. He already came 15 minutes late because he had a photo-shoot at the park this morning, but seeing that he was still the first to come was really disheartening.

"Do they have any will at all to go today? Even Kuroko-chi hasn't arrived yet…" Kise felt like he was the only one motivated enough to do the _double _no, _triple dates_.

Aomine was grumbling when Kise told him about the date plan because it couldn't be called a date if _many people_ were tagging along, just a simple outing. He bet Aomine was just irked that he had to behave and keep his hands to himself during the date because his friends would constantly be keeping an eye on him.

Midorima had texted Kise to kill himself (an improvement, really, since usually he would just text 'GO DIE' in the mail) when he reminded him about the plan this morning. But he knew Midorima would still come. After all, Takao had sent an 'OK' soon after that nasty text message from the green haired _tsundere_.

Kuroko was another thing though. He didn't seem too eager to go. Well, Kise could understand, _alright_, because Kuroko wouldn't be going with Kagami. However, he didn't intend to let Kuroko feel lonely in this outing. After all, he wanted to go today solely to cheer Kuroko up since he seemed to be depressed about something... somehow.

Kise didn't know what happened. But, Kuroko wasn't the type of guy who would be depressed just because he couldn't go on date with his boyfriend once. There must have been something else going on. Kise was willing to lend an ear and this outing could be a perfect disguise so Kuroko wouldn't feel as if he was being interrogated rather than being consoled.

Yup. That was the plan. Oh, how brilliant Kise's mind today.

Kise smiled cheerily to himself. Well, Aomine would be annoyed of course, but his boyfriend cared about Kuroko just as much as Kise, so he might want to hear about Kuroko's problem as well. Plus, Midorima was actually a caring guy despite his selfish tendency. He would want to help Kuroko if the teal haired boy had problems, even though he would definitely deny that.

Kise then sat on the bench as he waited for his other friends to turn up. Approximately ten minutes later, Midorima and Takao showed up.

"You're late!" Kise huffed and pointed at the taller, green haired boy and the shorter, dark haired teen in annoyance.

"Hmph. It isn't like I wanted to go in the first place. Takao was just very insistent," Midorima tilted his chin up and looked down haughtily on Kise who was still in sitting position.

"Shin-chan… you dragged me out of my house at 6 a.m. and started to _pick clothes_ for me for this occasion in special boutique that opens at ungodly hour and only because you called the owner to. I must say you're pretty pumped up to go today," Takao yawned, patting his boyfriend's arm and side before leaning his head on Midorima's chest and started to snore lightly.

Midorima looked annoyed that Takao decided to turn him into a makeshift pillow, but he didn't shove him away and let the other boy lean on him with only a scowl on his face.

Kise thought that it was such a cute sight. Well, at least Midorima was eager to go on date even if he didn't want to admit it. He chuckled and it earned Midorima's attention as the taller flushed slightly, but he hurriedly looked away again, probably trying to hide his embarrassment.

"So… why are we the only ones here? Where are the others?" Midorima asked after he sat down on the bench as well beside Kise, Takao still sleeping and leaning onto him from his other side.

"I don't know. No one replied my message," Kise shrugged and shook his head, pouting slightly.

Midorima took his cell-phone out and checked. "Well, I was busy earlier," he didn't seem to feel sorry for ignoring Kise's message at all. Takao was still lightly snoring.

Suddenly Kise was interested in why Midorima's boyfriend seemed very sleepy. He grinned already guessing something naughty. "My… Takao-kun looks very exhausted. What did you two do last night to have him lose his sleep like that?"

"Kise, your face is very annoying. Stop thinking dirty, idiot. Takao just played games until morning," was Midorima's cold reply.

"Ooh, and what _games_ did he play with you, Midorima-chi?" Kise's grin widened.

"How should I know? I wasn't there," Midorima huffed.

Kise sighed dramatically. "You guys aren't fun at all! Aren't you guys dating? Spend some night time together!" He whined loudly and Midorima immediately slapped the blonde's mouth shout in total annoyance.

"Your voice is too loud! Have a shame, Kise!"

Takao only stirred for a moment, but didn't wake up from all the movements and struggles around him. Midorima visibly sighed as he saw it.

"Aww~ Midorima-chi, you're so sweet~!" Kise hugged Midorima's arm playfully and Midorima scowled at him, seeming to be irritated.

"Kise, if you don't shut up at this moment, I'd make sure you can't speak for the rest of the day," Midorima threatened scarily.

"Waaaah! Midorima-chi, so meaaaan!"

"Shut up!"

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"Welcome to my home sweet home. Treat it as yours as you are here." Kagami grinned widely as he let Himuro into his apartment. It was the first time Himuro came over after they reunited in Japan and Kagami was very excited to spend more time together with the older dark haired teen.

"Heeh, your apartment is nice, Taiga. Surprisingly, it's cleaner than what I imagined," Himuro looked around, seeming to familiarize himself with his surroundings.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kagami grunted, annoyed, as he went to the kitchen to make some tea.

"Well, high school boy that lives alone tends to have a messy room, right?" Himuro sounded amused.

"Well, a high school boy that lives alone needs a healthy environment to live too," Kagami replied, pouring boiled water into a teapot with some tea leaves inside. He stirred the water until it was reddish brown and closed the teapot lid.

Kagami retrieved two teacups from one of the cabinets and a sieve from one of the drawers. He put the sieve on top of the teacup and poured the tea in. "Do you still drink tea with sugar, Tatsuya?" he asked from the kitchen, but Himuro didn't answer him.

"Tatsuya?" Kagami left the tea in the kitchen and went back to the living room. Himuro wasn't there, but he heard suspicious sounds from his room. "Oh no, you don't!" He immediately marched to his bedroom, opened the door and found the older teen slipping his hand under his bed. "Tatsuya! What the hell!?"

"Ah?" Himuro turned his head around slightly to face Kagami who was stomping towards him in annoyance. "I figure you'd lead a healthy life as a high school boy and have a stash of naughty magazines or videos here somewhere," he smiled sheepishly.

"Well, I don't. Come on, your tea will get cold," Kagami reached for the older boy and grabbed his arm before pulling. But of course Himuro was resisting.

"Ah! Wait! I haven't even checked your drawers yet!" Himuro laughed.

"Since when have you become such a snooping jerk?! Leave my bedroom alone, damn it!" Kagami was annoyed and a tad embarrassed. Really, why did Himuro suddenly want to know about something like that? He had never been this curious back then.

"Adolescence happened, that's what," Himuro moved swiftly away to free himself from Kagami's grip.

"Ah! Not fair! You can't use your basketball skill outside the game! That's cheating!" Kagami was trying to re-catch Himuro, but he was very slick and quick, and his movement was so smooth it was like he was dancing instead of dodging.

"Ooh! This seems interesting," Himuro then took a dark-brown colored book on Kagami's desk.

"Waaah! Don't!" Kagami cried in horror, immediately trying to take the book back because, damn it! That was his secret photo album, and Kagami was very careless for letting it lay around unguarded like that.

"Ooh? That reaction is very suspicious, Taiga~," Himuro grinned playfully now, trying to hold back Kagami with one hand while the other was bringing the book away from the redhead's reach.

"Seriously, Tatsuya you jerk! Cut it out already! Give that back!" Kagami was desperate. He didn't want Himuro to find out this way. He wanted to tell the older boy with his own mouth after all.

"That makes me even more curious to see what's in it," Himuro didn't seem to want to give up, and so they were struggling for awhile, pushing and pulling at each other.

Unfortunately, because Himuro was smaller and he couldn't see where he was going, obviously because Kagami was still trying to snatch away his secret album from Himuro's hand, somehow, one of his leg tripped on something.

"Oh!" Himuro yelped in surprise losing his balance, and as he appeared to try to hold onto something to stable his grounding, and he grabbed Kagami's shoulder as reflex.

Kagami was surprised as well at the sudden pull and didn't have a chance to balance his own body. As a result, both boys tumbled down and landed right on Kagami's bed.

"Ow…! Ta-Taiga, what are you doing? You're heavy…!" Himuro whined slightly, trying to push Kagami's body away with one hand while the other was still holding the photo album.

"That should be my line, Tatsuya! You're acting like a kid! Give my album back!" Kagami was still trying to reach for the album and he caught Himuro's wrist to make him let go of it, while his other hand was on Himuro's chest to hold him down.

"Nooo!" Himuro whined again teasingly, tightening his hold on the album in a vice grip.

"Excuse me."

Kagami and Himuro almost screeched and jumped in shock at the sudden voice coming from the door direction. Both teens immediately turned to face the door and there was Kuroko Tetsuya standing, as usual, with his expressionless face, staring at them with his deadpan gaze.

"Ku-Kuroko?! Jeez… you surprised me!" Kagami's heart was still beating a mile per minute because of that.

"Ah… hello, Kuroko-kun," Himuro smiled nicely at him from bellow Kagami.

Kuroko kept his silence, still staring at Kagami and Himuro for a few minutes with his unreadable look until Kagami noticed that he was still crouching on top of the prone Himuro, his hand still holding Himuro's wrist and somehow, one of his knees was nestled between the older male's bent legs. Plus, their clothes were rather disheveled because of their struggle earlier.

Kagami immediately jerked away from his surrogate brother as if the other teen was strongly acidic. He realized how misleading that position must have been in Kuroko's eyes. "It's a misunderstanding!" He immediately shouted and stood before approaching Kuroko. "I can explain!" He flailed his hands frantically.

Kagami couldn't let Kuroko mistake what happened as an act of unfaithfulness.

"Sure you can," Kuroko answered evenly. He didn't even flinch, and most people would say he didn't think anything about it, but Kagami knew how bad this was. He recognized that eerie feeling coming out of Kuroko's body and Kagami almost could see those scary hetero-chromatic eyes of a certain redhead behind him.

Kagami paled at that. "No, seriously! You've got it wrong! Tatsuya was just being childish and wouldn't give me back my book! I was just trying to get it back from him! I swear!" He almost cried at this point because seriously, an angry Kuroko was scary!

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko reached Kagami's chest, making Kagami jolt in surprise. "I understand, already. You do not have to panic like that. Calm down." He sighed, stroking that toned chest softly.

"Y-you're not… mad?" Kagami was very confused now. He was sure that Kuroko was angry just then.

"No, I am not," Kuroko smiled slightly before he hugged Kagami. The redhead blushed slightly at that, suddenly feeling rather self-conscious.

"E-eh? Ku-… Kuroko?" Kagami didn't know where to put his hands, but he figured it was okay to hug the boy back so he rested his hands on Kuroko's shoulder and back.

"I was here only to tell you that I am going to the amusement park with Kise-kun and Aomine-kun," Kuroko said.

"…"

"…"

"Eh?" Now, Kagami was dumbfounded.

"Oh yes, Midorima-kun and Takao-kun will be there as well," Kuroko continued before he loosened his hug from Kagami and looked upward at him. "I am disappointed that we cannot go together, but I will be fine with them so…" Kuroko then tilted his head slightly aside to look behind Kagami, "I am sorry for disturbing your bonding time, Himuro-san. Please continue and _enjoy your time together_," he smiled at Himuro after that.

Then Kuroko dislodged his body completely from Kagami before walking away. He stopped at the door before he said "See you tomorrow, Kagami-kun," and went out, closing it shut.

"…"

"…"

"He was glaring at me," Himuro suddenly said, snapping Kagami out of his stupor.

"What?" Kagami turned around at Himuro, mildly confused.

"Kuroko-kun… just then, when he said 'enjoy your time together', he was glaring at me while smiling," Himuro's face was pale and a bead of sweat prickled out his cheek.

"Aaaaaaah! He definitely misunderstoooood!" Kagami freaked out after that, holding his head with both hands and wailing in panic.

"Ah… what should I do…? I don't want to be hated by him…" Himuro also looked slightly nervous now.

"Nooooo! I don't want him to think of me as a cheater just because of this!" Kagami was still dreading.

Himuro looked at Kagami ridiculously. "Taiga, you are overreacting. It's just a misunderstanding between teammates. It's not like I'm going to steal his partner from him," he huffed at that.

"No, you don't understand, Tatsuya! Kuroko isn't just… we aren't just basketball partners!" Kagami looked at Himuro desperately.

Himuro raised his visible eyebrow at that, looking slightly puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

Now Kagami's face heated. He was very troubled with how he should explain the nature of his relationship with Kuroko without having to say it bluntly because it was very embarrassing. Moreover, he still didn't know how Himuro would react over it.

When he was looking for words, Kagami noticed that Himuro was still holding his secret photo album, and he suddenly got an idea. "Open the photo album," he said then, pointing at it.

"Huh?" Himuro seemed aware that he was still holding the item before he put in on his lap and then started to open it. He immediately widened his eyes seeing the content.

Kagami's face felt officially burning now. Himuro must have been shocked because he hadn't said anything and just stared at the photos inside the album with wide eyes.

"Taiga you…"

_This is it… the judgment...!_—Kagami was ready to receive any negative reaction from his surrogate brother about the content of that album, because it told Himuro exactly what Kagami's sexuality was.

"I thought you would be kinkier than this."

Kagami tripped on his own foot and fell down comically, his face flat on the wooden floor. That… wasn't the reaction he had expected. "What the hell kind of _lame_ reaction is that?!" he couldn't help screeching after that, face beet red in embarrassment and in shock as he protested at Himuro.

"Well… your response was very misleading too, you know, when I was trying to open this album earlier," Himuro huffed out a laugh at Kagami while shaking his head. "If it's just filled with Kuroko-kun's sleeping pictures or the pictures of you guys kissing, you didn't have to be that alarmed. Those guys at my apartment building in America already showed me more than a fourteen year old could handle, you know," he covered his lower face with the book, but Kagami knew Himuro was smiling in amusement.

"That is _way_ too much information I didn't need to hear!" Kagami flushed darker, rather horrified, and then paled as well thinking about what those homo grownups had done to his sweet kind surrogate brother that he knew so much about something like that.

"So… you and Kuroko-kun, huh?" Now Himuro's smile turned into a teasing smirk after he put down the album again.

Kagami flushed again for the umpteenth time. "S-shut up!" he retaliated, very embarrassed.

"Jeez… Taiga, were you worried that I would be repulsed by your choice of sexuality? I'm hurt that you have so little faith in me," Himuro seemed to fake his 'hurt' expression, annoying Kagami very much.

Still, Kagami had a reason of why he didn't want to take a risk. "No, well… usually I don't care about what people think about me, but… Tatsuya, you're an exception because you're my precious brother, and… I don't want to feel _like that_ ever again, you know. It hurts when I think you hate me," Kagami looked down now, suddenly feeling rather depressed as he remembered their stupid fight.

"Oh, man…! Taiga, you…" Himuro immediately stood and walked over to Kagami before he pulled him down so Himuro could ruffle and mess Kagami's hair. "Really, you're just very adorable. I don't know what I'll do with you…" then he hugged the bigger boy's neck rather endearingly.

"Stop that! Sheesh…! I'm in the middle of thinking here! I need to do something before Kuroko gets the wrong idea about us!" Kagami didn't want to sound sulking, but hell if he wasn't. He just didn't want to admit that. "Or he already has... Ugh! Why is it so hard to read him?" Now he felt dejected, whining pitifully.

"Don't worry too much. I don't think that Kuroko-kun is a close-minded person. He himself said he wasn't mad at you, so he probably is angry with me for hogging your time for myself today," Himuro tapped and stroked Kagami's back reassuringly, smiling nicely like a big brother he was.

"But, I don't want him to misunderstand you as well…" Kagami pouted now even though he didn't realize it.

Himuro smiled fondly at Kagami. "Taiga… you're just too nice for your own good…" He shook his head, ruffling Kagami's hair again more gently now.

"I will talk to him tomorrow. Now… since we have made plans first, let's go to that game center," Kagami sighed deeply in defeat before he was gradually smiling again despite his uneasy feeling about Kuroko's thoughts.

"After the tea," Himuro reminded.

"Oh yeah, the tea!" Kagami just remembered. "I bet it's cold now…" he sighed again. What a waste of good cups of tea.

"I'll still drink it anyway," Himuro then pulled Kagami back to the living room.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Kuroko was walking down the street to the meeting spot. Even though his outer look was calm and collected, his inner thought betrayed it. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had seen earlier in Kagami's room. Both Kagami and Himuro looked… very close. Too... _intimate_. Kuroko didn't like that at all.

Of course, Kuroko understood that _the_ _suspicious thing that happened between the two_ was probably was just an accident, but still. They were completely comfortable with intruding each other' personal space. He means is… that skin-ship was something rare even for brothers by blood. Kagami and Himuro weren't even that.

They were perfectly okay being close to and touching each other like that…

Suddenly Kuroko felt very uneasy. His heart rate increased sporadically. An unpleasant feeling wormed inside his heart. Despite him trusting Kagami, he hadn't yet gotten to trusting Himuro. What if Himuro liked Kagami _that way_? Kagami was clueless, yes, but if somehow, Himuro took advantage of that…

Kuroko didn't even realize when he clenched his fists so hard that they felt painful. He was also still in a daze, imagining what could have happened between his boyfriend and Kagami's supposedly surrogate brother if things got out of hand and—

Kuroko's face bumped into an electricity pole… literally. He immediately crouched down, nursing his painful forehead and nose because of it. He felt like crying, but not because of the pain. It was because he was worried if his bad omen would come true.

_What should I do…? I do not want Kagami-kun to think of me as a very jealous boyfriend. Kagami-kun will surely not like it if I accuse Himuro-san of something like that…!_—Kuroko sighed deeply, still in his squatting position and holding his throbbing face. He needed to stop feeling so jealous. But he didn't know how.

"Tetsu?"

Kuroko heard someone's familiar voice. He looked up slowly and turned his face around to find Aomine Daiki behind him. "What are you doing crouching on the roadside in front of an electricity pole like that?" the dark-blue haired boy frowned slightly, looking mildly curious and concerned.

"Ah… Aomine-kun…" Kuroko was slowly standing up, intending to greet the taller guy properly, but before he could say 'good morning', something warm and wet fell down from the corner of his eyes.

Aomine widened his eyes in total shock at that. "EH?! W-wait, a—why are you crying?!" Thus, he immediately freaked out.

"Cry—?" Kuroko just realized that he was indeed crying when he felt the tears on his cheek with his index finger. "Huh?" He was confused for a moment. He didn't mean to really cry over it after all.

Kuroko was sure his face was still blank, but apparently, it was still HUGE for Aomine because he immediately took out his cell-phone and frantically typed something before hitting the send button. He looked kind of panicking as well.

"W-wait, Aomine-kun, who are you text-," Kuroko's breath hitched slightly and Aomine winced, almost dropping his cell-phone because of it, "-ting?" He tried to dry the tears, and still rather confused of why Aomine was gaping with a distressed look.

"Uh… err… c-calm down, Tetsu... wait. What do people do when they're trying to comfort someone again? Aaa! I should have brought Satsuki with me! She'd know what to do!" Now it was Aomine who looked very upset and anxious.

"Aomine-kun, please calm down," Kuroko sighed deeply, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek instead of his tears. His tears were completely dried a moment later. He didn't know why he had to comfort other people when he was the one needing comfort, but… somehow, seeing Aomine's reaction made him slightly feel better.

"Te-Tetsu, are you… okay?" Aomine looked very bothered now, but at least he was calming down.

Kuroko smiled slightly. "I am fine, Aomine-kun. I just bumped my forehead on that electricity pole right there," he pointed at the pole. "It hurts, but it is nothing serious, I guess," he rubbed the pink lump on his forehead. Aomine instantly sighed deeply at that, looking relieved.

"Jeez…" Aomine squatted down now. "You surprised me…" Then he stood up once again and glared at the pole heatedly. He marched to the pole and kicked it. "There, I kicked it for you. Bad pole," he huffed.

Kuroko chuckled slightly seeing that, totally amused. "Please stop. You will hurt your foot," he smiled again then, feeling grateful that his friend cared so much about him.

Aomine gave Kuroko a small smile then, but he still looked kind of worried. "You're going to our meeting spot, right? Let's go there together."

"That would be nice," Kuroko nodded at the offer then they started to walk together in comfortable silence. However, it hadn't yet been ten minutes since they started walking when three people came running towards them from up front.

"Huh?" Kuroko noticed first before-

"Kuroko-chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" a blond teenage boy suddenly launched himself at Kuroko, followed by a green haired boy who was panting because of the running and a very tired looking dark haired teen who looked somehow rather concerned.

"Ki-Kise-kun?" Kuroko was honestly surprised because lately, Kise hadn't been that emotional since he got together with Aomine.

"Waaaah! Kuroko-chiiii! Why are you crying?! Who caused that?! Did something bad happen?! Are you hurt anywhere?! Are you sick?!"

Now Kuroko understood. Apparently, Aomine had texted Kise in his panic earlier that Kuroko was crying. Kise tended to overreact, but he didn't think Midorima would also come running to aid Kuroko. They even dragged Takao with them, but Kuroko guessed Midorima's boyfriend did care slightly about Kuroko as well.

"Kise-kun… you are choking me," Kuroko replied evenly. Though, of course it was lying, but at least Kise immediately released his crushing hug.

"S-sorry! Are you okay? You aren't hurt, right?" Kise then settled with putting his palms on Kuroko's cheeks, looking at Kuroko with his warm, teary, light-brown eyes.

"Kise-kun, I am okay, really," Kuroko sighed again.

"Sheesh, Aomine, you…!" Midorima glared at Aomine. "Causing so much ruckus for false information like that…!" He seemed very annoyed now.

"Hey! Tetsu really cried earlier!" Aomine protested indignantly at the accusation.

"You guys have a tendency to exaggerate…" Takao sighed deeply, probably annoyed as well, but he looked more relieved than anything.

"Kuroko-chi wouldn't cry if nothing happened!" Kise cried dramatically and didn't seem to buy Kuroko's excuse that he gave Aomine earlier. "What's wrong? Please tell us. We want to help." He looked again at Kuroko pleadingly, now with those irresistible puppy eyes that could melt any woman who loved cute things.

Even though Kuroko was immune to Kise's seductive charm, that adorableness was something else. Kuroko sighed deeply again. He still wasn't inclined to tell them about his baseless worry on Himuro and Kagami's relationship.

"Let's… let's just go play first. I do not want to waste the tickets…" Finally Kuroko opted to stall first. He would look for the solution alone and distract himself from the worry by playing with everyone else.

Aomine and Kise looked at each other for a moment, seeming to be communicating with their eyes before they nodded at the same time. Then the two turned to look at Midorima who pushed his glasses up his nose bridge, his emerald eyes glinting slightly, looking strangely sure and convinced. Takao just tilted his head aside, seeming to be oblivious to the exchange between the GoM members.

"Okay then, Kuroko-chi. Let's go to amusement park!" Kise cheered now and everyone agreed.

Though, Kuroko couldn't help feeling uncomfortable about his ex-teammates' peculiar looks. Somehow, they seemed to plan something Kuroko wasn't aware of.

"Let's call Satsuki as well. I'm sure she'd love to play with us," Aomine suddenly decided and Kuroko immediately knew what was going on.

"Nice idea, Aomine-chi! That way we're set for six people! Three pairs! Yay!" Kise instantly applauded.

"Huh, for once, you can say something less idiotic," Midorima's taped fingers were still on his glasses.

"Shin-chan… just say honestly that it's a good idea," Takao tapped Midorima's back while grinning teasingly.

"S-shut up," Midorima huffed, his cheeks turning a bit pink. Aomine snickered and Kise laughed.

"Momoi-chi will be happy because she'll be able to pair up with Kuroko-chi, huh?"

This was bad. They would use Momoi to extract information from Kuroko without him knowing it.

_Jeez… it has turned into something troublesome now. I hope I will be able to withhold the information for everyone's safety…._

Well, it wasn't exaggerating, really, because Kuroko knew the extent of what the GoM members were capable of doing if someone or some people tried to mess with one of them. Even though he was upset because he was jealous of Himuro and because Kagami was being a clueless dunce, he still didn't want them to be harmed, especially his boyfriend.

Kuroko didn't want to go back single. Thank you very much.

**End of Kiss Me Sweetly Part 2**

**Tbc…**

* * *

**A/N:** Oh, man… this is stretching. I probably won't be able to finish this story in three parts. I am going to add one more part to this mini-series, so this story can continue a bit freely. Tell me you are okay with that, my lovely readers! Since I really don't want to rush this… ugh, Murasakibara only showed up a little bit at the beginning of this part. Damn. This is supposed to be Mura/Himu, not Kaga/Kuro! Stop being distracted, ME! *self-deprecates* And somehow... I got carried away making Himuro-Kagami's bromance as well. But, I can't help it! Their dynamic is CUTE! XD

*Coughs* Anyway, as always, comments will be very nice. Reviews will be much appreciated. And con-crits are very much needed.


	3. Part 3

**Disclaimer and Warning: _See Part 1_**

**Beta: **tora-chan83

**A/N: **All files are totally fixed and edited by **tora-chan83**. Thank you very much for beta-ing this story, dear beta!

* * *

**Kiss Me Sweetly**

**_Part 3_**

* * *

So… the triple dates began.

"Tetsu-kuuuuuun!" Momoi Satsuki was in heaven as she latched herself onto her sweet adorable Kuroko Tetsuya who, as usual, didn't even twitch even though she was currently presenting all her assets that would make other guys drool or _kill_ to be in Kuroko's position.

"Good morning, Momoi-san," Kuroko gave her a calm, collected smile and her heart was instantly shot with a Cupid's Arrow all over again seeing such nice look he gave her. She almost collapsed in bliss for being able to see Kuroko, in his casual winter clothes, ready to go on date with her.

"Ah, g-good morning, Tetsu-kun…" Momoi completely ignored the other guys who were also with them, slightly flustered as she said her greeting to her beloved. Kuroko was very handsome today as well after all.

Aomine scoffed. "Her eyes really are rotten," he shook his head at that.

Momoi stepped on her childhood friend's foot for that insensitive comment. Aomine yelped in obvious pain and Kise's sweat dropped apologetically beside him.

"I still couldn't believe that Momoi really likes Kuroko that way," Midorima looked rather baffled.

"I bet she doesn't even know about Kuroko's boyf—" Takao hadn't finished his sentence as Kuroko gave him a sharp jab to his side. The point guard shrieked as he immediately crouched down on the ground, clearly in pain.

Midorima huffed lightly. "Your own fault for being too noisy," he reprimanded Takao as well. Although Kuroko seemed to feel bad afterwards, he didn't apologize.

"So, Dai-chan told me we'll go to amusement park today," Momoi decided to ignore all of the oddities (because in her mind, boys were a mystery) and hugged Kuroko's right arm as they started walking to the destination. Maybe she would get really lucky today and finally, _finally_ she and Kuroko would have a romantic moment alone, _together_.

"Yes, it's been awhile since we play together outside, right?" Kise answered even though the question obviously wasn't for him. Kuroko just nodded silently as he let himself be dragged by the pink haired girl.

"Kinda wish that Akashi-kun and Mukkun were also here, huh? Then it would be like old times," Momoi giggled and the others went very quiet at that. She tilted her head aside. Except for Kuroko who didn't seem to care (or hear) about what she said, everyone else looked very nervous suddenly.

Aomine was sweating bullets. Kise was _forced_ to laugh uneasily. Midorima hastily pushed his glasses up his nose bridge, a bead of sweat adorning his cheek and Takao looked away while making a _'crap!'_ look.

"What's with the reaction?" Momoi was quite confused.

"D-Don't get your panties in a twist. Tetsu just needs some distractions today," Aomine reminded her, apparently trying to change the subject.

Another step on his foot and Momoi was sure Aomine would zip his mouth up. After all, she wore high heels today, especially for this _date_, and it would hurt like bitch if she did that on the same foot she had stepped earlier.

Aomine let out a string of nasty curses to her under his breath after that, as he tried to nurse his abused foot.

Kise just mumbled quietly "He never learns his lesson…" while shaking his head and throwing a sympathetic gaze at the dark-blue haired teen.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Murasakibara arrived quite early at the store he frequented. It had just opened and the owner, a very nice middle aged man with grayish hair and dark-grey eyes, immediately noticed the overly tall teen outside his store. After all, he had known the purple haired boy personally since he was still a little kid.

"Ah, isn't it Atsushi-kun," the man greeted the boy as he opened the door for him.

"It's been awhile _tencho_ (1)," Murasakibara nodded slightly in greeting as he entered.

"Welcome, welcome. Restocking sweets and snacks as usual?" the manager asked, unlocking several closed cabinets so he could display what was inside them.

Murasakibara nodded quietly as he looked around the place. "This place hasn't changed much since the last time I came," he strutted towards one of the cabinets where he could get his favorite candies. He had memorized every 'what and where' inside the store after all.

"Ahem, the last time you came here was a month ago, my boy. Of course it hasn't changed that much," the manager laughed slightly, sounding amused. "But there _is_ a change here, especially the collection of my candies and snacks," he continued playfully.

Murasakibara's ears perked slightly at the news. He immediately abandoned the cabinet he was currently ransacking to approach the manager. "Are there any new delicious candies and snacks?" His eyes sparkled slightly at that, totally interested.

"Oh yes, dear, there are; and unlike the others these are more delicious and they come with a lot of tasty flavors that you can choose," the manager smiled kindly before opening another cabinet.

Murasakibara didn't remember that kind of cabinet the last time he was in the store, so this was probably a new cabinet to keep those new products.

"I'll get the sample out if you wait for just a minute," the manager chuckled as he noticed how willful Murasakibara was to try these new products. Well, in Murasakibara's defense, all those candies and snacks recommended by the manager were always outstanding. Even his least favorite flavor tasted good if the man recommended it.

Murasakibara was ready to spend a lot of money to buy those snacks even before he got the sample. Still, he was impatient, so by eating those samples he could quickly taste them and know for sure how good they were.

A few minutes later, the manager came back with some bowls of the snacks to sample. He put the bowls on the table just in front of Murasakibara. "Please enjoy," he smiled again.

"_Itadakimasu (2),_" Murasakibara smiled happily like a child as he dug into the samples. He almost groaned in excitement as his taste-bud made contact with the exquisite flavor of the snacks. He couldn't even stop until the last bite.

"How is it?" the manager asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Tencho… I'm buying everything you have here from these new products," Murasakibara didn't even pause to breathe.

"It's always nice doing business with you~," the manager said with his very happy professional seller smile as he waved to Murasakibara, who got out of the store with a big plastic bag filled with his new passion (product of snacks) and a big paper-bag full of his usual favorite candies and snacks, in both hands.

Murasakibara was quite happy that he got what he wanted. "Muro-chin, you should try these as well…" He turned aside slightly, completely forgetting that he wasn't with Himuro at that moment. "Ah."

Murasakibara almost could see Himuro chuckle and shake his head at his tendency to buy enormous amount of snacks, suddenly he stopped walking as he felt a twinge of an unpleasant feeling inside him when he realized that Himuro wasn't actually there.

"Stupid Muro-chin…" Murasakibara looked at his feet. He missed the dark haired teen. Even though he was still mad at him, he just couldn't help it. He wanted to see Himuro.

Murasakibara resumed his walk a short time later. He didn't want to go to the station to head back to Akita, but he needed to put down some of the snacks first if he wanted to eat. He figured he would just pack most of them and send them directly to his apartment in Akita while he held on to the rest to eat as he walked around Tokyo.

_Muro-chin said he would be at Kagami's apartment, right? It's in Tokyo. Maybe if I walk around a bit I'll meet him accidentally…—_Murasakibara _didn't_ know that it was a long-shot since Tokyo was quite big. In his childish thought, everything could happen if he wanted it to, so he figured that it was a totally good idea.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Kagami and Himuro had just gotten out from the game center. Now they were walking alongside each other on the road. One was sulky, the other totally amused.

"Damn it. How is it that you are so good despite your claim to have never played that game before?" Kagami looked pissed.

Himuro laughed slightly. "As usual, Taiga is so naïve." He shook his head. Really, they had known each other for what… almost ten years? It was a long time, and he should totally have known by now that Himuro was very good with his hands.

Himuro was quick to adapt to his surroundings and only with a few tries, he was able to master all the techniques of the games. He had talent, indeed.

"You're even good at the dancing booth," Kagami twitched at that.

Himuro chuckled. "Street dancing is my specialty." He twirled swiftly, before forcing Kagami to dance with him by pulling him in to match his movements.

"Whoah! No!" Kagami looked very surprised. "Stop it! Seriously, Tatsuya! It's embarrassing!" the redhead raised his voice and his face reddened, looking slightly panicked.

"If you make a big deal about it, people are going to stare," Himuro smirked slyly, still pulling Kagami around to follow his smooth street-dancing movement.

"No, no! They are already staring! Quit it!" Kagami was still trying to stop Himuro (and himself) from dancing, apparently. He looked so flustered and embarrassed. "It's not the US! It's uncommon here to suddenly dance on the roadside," he reasoned.

"Oh, that's so not true," Himuro gradually stopped and Kagami visibly sighed in relief before Himuro suddenly grabbed his wrist. "Come with me. I'll show you Japanese street-dancing," he then smiled widely as he pulled the bewildered Kagami to the station.

They caught a quick ride to Shinjuku and Kagami seemed to be very surprised as he was brought to a certain park near the station, where all kinds of people were dancing. Seriously, from children to adults, the small groups danced to the fusion of the different songs blaring at the same time from a lot of tapes in the background.

"Japanese street-dancing," Himuro grinned while making a V-sign.

"How did you…? I thought you just came here only recently," Kagami seemed very baffled that Himuro knew his ways a lot more than Kagami in Japan.

"Well, I am quite adventurous," Himuro smiled. "A few days after I transferred to Japan, I decided to take a walk around to see Tokyo… and other cities."

Kagami suddenly seemed to be _very_ interested in that information. "Hey, it's been on my mind since the first time we met at that street-ball tournament, Tatsuya. Why did you come to Japan?" the redhead looked serious as he asked. "And don't tell me you transferred just because you wanted a rematch. Even though it is big enough reason, _situation_ can change just as fast, like what happened to me back then. Did _something_ happen?" he continued, appearing slightly worried now.

Himuro sighed at that. "It was… nothing of the short," he turned to face Kagami, smiling slightly. "The reason is bigger than what I mentioned, indeed, but it isn't _that kind_ of reason. It is more… personal, you see…"

There was a sudden growling sound and Tatsuya blinked while Kagami cringed. The redhead turned around slowly and carefully, beads of sweat prickling out his face, and at the sight of a stray black dog, Kagami instantly screeched in horror and took thousands steps away from the innocent canine which only growled because he wanted to rummage at the trash beside Himuro.

Himuro sighed again awkwardly. "He still has that phobia, huh?" He felt bad for his surrogate brother, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"Tetsu-kun, let's ride the ducky boat!" Momoi squealed, hugging Kuroko's arm as she dragged the pale haired boy to the man-made lake at the water play area, where there were duck-shaped boats for couples to ride.

Kuroko just nodded absent-mindedly, only half-registering what the pink haired girl was doing or saying because his mind wasn't really on the right track. Even though he knew it would be rude to Momoi, he just couldn't get his mind off of what Kagami and Himuro were possibly doing at that moment.

Kuroko knew it was pointless to get anxious over it because _nothing_ would happen between his boyfriend and his surrogate brother. Well, his head knew it, but his heart just couldn't stop worrying. _Are people in love usually like this?_—he thought he was _better _and more composed than that.

This was ridiculous. Well, Kuroko guessed that people in love were rather irrational sometimes, but still… he couldn't help feeling that this was too much. He shouldn't feel this jealous because of it. Even Kuroko didn't feel like this when he knew Aomine liked Kise those years ago.

"Tetsu-kun?"

Kuroko blinked as he heard Momoi's inquiring voice. Then he realized that he was already on the boat, but he needed to pedal if they wanted the boat to move in straight line instead of in circle.

"Oh, I am sorry, Momoi-san. I was kind of distracted just now. Did you say something?" Kuroko turned to face Momoi as he started to pedal the boat as well, leveling with Momoi's work.

Momoi smiled at Kuroko ruefully. "Tetsu-kun, you're very quiet today. You haven't said anything except the occasional yes or no, and maybe nod a couple of times. But, it seems that your mind isn't here at all, huh?"

Kuroko looked at his lap, feeling slightly ashamed. "I am very sorry," he said regretfully.

"Did something happen?" the pink haired girl reached to touch Kuroko's shoulder. She smiled kindly at him and Kuroko thought that he really couldn't hide anything from her. In the GoM family, she was the closest thing to a sister Kuroko had _never_ had.

Despite knowing that it would hurt her none the less, Kuroko had to tell her about Kagami and his relationship, and even though he didn't deserve her kindness, he thought he really should tell her his problem.

_Stringing her heart more than right now will be cruel after all._

"I am… worried," Kuroko spoke slowly and quietly.

Kuroko was looking for the words to say it in a less _hurtful_ manner, but it would still produce the same result since he would break Momoi's heart either way. However, before he could continue, Momoi suddenly spoke.

"Is it about Kagami Taiga?"

Kuroko looked upward and turned to face her in a surprise. Momoi smiled again, rather sadly now. "I already knew, Tetsu-kun. Kagami and you are an item now," she turned to look at her hands that were fiddling with the hem of her long sleeves. "I also caught some news about the others… they aren't exactly discreet with their little charades here and there, especially Dai-chan with his exhibitionist tendency," she faced upward and tilted her head a little to a specific direction.

Kuroko moved slightly to look over her shoulder, at that specific direction, and blinked. He found Aomine and Kise on another ducky boat… making out. "I can see what you meant…." He deadpanned.

Momoi chuckled, looking rather amused. "Dai-chan thought I hadn't known yet. He's silly. Just how long does he think we have known each other anyway? He's terrible at keeping secrets," she shook her head after that.

"But… you didn't say anything either," Kuroko looked at Momoi, rather questioning.

"Well, I figure if he wants to tell me personally, he will. We're best friends after all," Momoi smiled again, more cutely now.

"Momoi-san…" Kuroko gave her a small smile for her big heart and maturity and she visibly blushed in reaction at that.

"Aaaah! Tetsu-kun, you're just so cuuuute!" then the pink haired girl proceeded to hug him tightly. "It's a shame that I won't get Tetsu-kun's heart at this moment, but I'm not giving up! If you're ever bored with that Bakagami, come to me, Tetsu-kun," and she cuddled him happily again.

_She is one hell of a woman…._

Kuroko just put his hand on Momoi's back, feeling consoled just like that. Momoi was an amazing girl. "Thank you, Momoi-san," he whispered gratefully while closing his eyes. He knew both his expression and tone didn't exactly show that, but he believed Momoi would understand it just fine.

"So… what's wrong with this Bakagami that cause Tetsu-kun to worry so much?" Momoi asked, going right to the point after that. Momoi didn't hesitate to question him after she let go of Kuroko, nor did she stop as she used her professional skill to extract information from him.

A bead of sweat formed on Kuroko's cheek. It seemed he wasn't off the hook yet. She would still pry about his problem, and he was alone with her right now, so trying to use his misdirection or directing the conversation another way to escape the interrogation was out of question.

Well, Kuroko could always tell her the truth… and then make her promise that she wouldn't tell the others and wouldn't do anything harmful to Kagami and Himuro after that.

Kuroko took a deep breath and let out sigh, before starting to speak. "I am kind of worried about Kagami-kun and Himuro-san's relationship."

Momoi perked at the name. Her brain seemed to rake for the information about it.

"Himuro Tatsuya, 17 year old, just came back from US this fall. Immediately transferred to Yousen in 1-C class, the same as Mukkun… huh? He's still in 1st year despite being older. I haven't yet looked deeper into that. He is the current ace of Yousen basketball team, together with Mukkun. Family is still unknown since they are in US. He came back to Japan alone, apparently… for playing a match against Kagami," Momoi nodded at the information she had gathered about Himuro Tatsuya. "Oh, and he has _Mirage Shoot;_ outstanding at faking ability, and apparently, he is good at street-dancing too," she added after that.

"Street-dancing?" Kuroko raised his eyebrows slightly at that. It was the first time he heard about it.

"Yes, apparently he does street-dancing. He street-danced at Shinjuku two days after he came to Japan before he transferred to Yousen." Momoi checked her note about it. She nodded surely after that. "Since he came here for Kagami, I figured they must have known each other for a long time," she then looked upward at Kuroko again.

"Yes, they have. Himuro-san is… like a brother to Kagami-kun," Kuroko filled in. "At least, Kagami-kun considers it that way. He looks up so much to him. He is… an important person in Kagami-kun's life…" He then looked down at his laps again.

"I heard… they had quite a fall out back in the States…"

Kuroko only heard Momoi's voice as he nodded. "Yes… but they reconciled after the Winter Cup…"

"Then they are very close now, huh?"

"Probably… yes, since Himuro-san is currently with Kagami-kun now… together, alone, in Kagami-kun apartment." Kuroko unconsciously said all of it out loud even though he only intended to think about it.

"I see…"

Kuroko blinked, only realizing what just happened as he looked upward at Momoi. "Eh… did I actually say that, just now?" He made a terrible mistake. He was sweating even though his face was still stuck in that expressionless look.

"Loud and clear," Momoi smiled sweetly, but she looked rather scary as well.

"Momoi-san… promise me you will keep it a secret from everyone else," Kuroko begged even though it didn't sound like he was begging. He stared into Momoi's eyes deeply.

Momoi visibly blushed at that and stuttered. "W-well, if Tetsu-kun insists… I'm available to bribe," she chuckled, looking flustered again.

"I will buy you lunch," Kuroko instantly agreed.

"Tetsu-kun…" Momoi was still smiling, but somehow, there were tears at the corner of her eyes as well. She looked rather disappointed, but Kuroko just didn't know why.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"Do you think he's talking?" Takao looked at the ducky boat which Kuroko and Momoi were riding rather curiously from where he and Midorima were walking around the lake while feeding pigeons.

"Momoi will always get an answer from _anyone _one way or another," Midorima nodded surely, pushing his black-rimmed glasses up his nose-bridge with his taped fingers, his lucky item for the day, a single fresh black rose nestled nicely on his breast pocket.

"Hmm…" Takao then shifted his gaze to another boat where he saw Aomine and Kise, still making out. Were they even riding the boat at all? "Jeez… Aomine is like a hungry predator. I feel so bad for Kise," he sweated slightly at that.

"If they were in my reach, I would kick them both out of the boat and drown them in the lake," Midorima growled, refusing to look at Aomine and Kise's direction at all.

Takao snorted at that. "Aomine never learns," and then shook his head, completely amused before he glanced at Midorima who only huffed, seeming to be annoyed but also embarrassed at the same time. "Well, I must compliment Aomine's bravery for being able to do that sort of thing with his boyfriend in public without fearing to be judged by society," he smiled after that.

Takao didn't hope to do those kinds of bold things in public. He only wanted to be able to hold Midorima's hand more freely, but with Midorima's personality, it would be very difficult to realize.

That's why Takao was very surprised when something touched his hand. It was the hem of a scarf, Midorima's to be precise. It was dark-green, soft, and made from cotton. He couldn't believe his eyes when Midorima's hand was holding part of it while the rest was offered to him.

Takao looked upward slightly at Midorima who refused to look at him, his left hand busy pushing up his glasses even though the position was completely okay, a hint of blush staining his cheeks. The Shuutoku ace didn't say anything, but Takao couldn't help smiling happily as he reached out and grabbed the hem of the scarf as well.

"Shin-chan is so cute~!" the Shuutoku point guard decided to be bold and immediately held Midorima's arm, exclaiming joyfully while kissing the scarf.

"S-shut up!" Midorima scowled, protesting, while his cheeks turned a darker shed of scarlet at that. However, he didn't struggle to shove Takao away. It was enough to send Takao's heart and mind to cloud nine.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"W-wait, Aomine-chi…! Stop it! We need to observe Kuroko—hnn!" Kise was trying really hard to push Aomine's face away from him, but apparently, the dark-blue haired teen wouldn't have that as he kissed Kise's lips again for the… umpteenth time in the last ten minutes. Kise lost count already.

"Let Satsuki handle it. She can always fill us in later," Aomine said in a low whisper between kisses and Kise's face heated as he felt the occasional lick and grope as well from his boyfriend.

"B-but…!" Kise almost cried, very embarrassed. Seriously, Aomine had no shame at all. They shouldn't have ridden on the boat. Kise should have known it was just an excuse so they could be relatively alone, especially without Midorima's scathing glare keeping track on them.

"Ha… indeed, your crying face looks extremely beautiful," Aomine smirked sexily, licking his lower lip before he captured Kise's gaze completely with those enticing eyes.

_Nooooo!_—Kise was very weak against that look. Aomine was a sinful creature! How could he say something like that with that very tempting expression?! It wasn't fair that Kise was the only one weak in the knees seeing those midnight colored eyes boring into his.

Kise tended to forget everything and surrender when Aomine gave him that look. Seriously, when Aomine leaned once more to capture his lips, Kise couldn't fight at all. Despite reprimanding himself inwardly, his body just didn't want to listen to his brain. It was as if Aomine took control of it.

If Aomine liked his crying face, then Kise didn't have any choice but to set that expression. _Jeez, what I do for Aomine-chi…._

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"Let's grab some lunch," Himuro grabbed Kagami's hand and pulled him to another direction as they were on the way to another sport store in Ginza.

"We really are just walking around Tokyo, aren't we?" Kagami couldn't help sighing in relief. He didn't know why Himuro decided that he wanted to check the sport store. He said the best sport stores were in Ginza and he was dragged there before they went in and out many stores there.

"There are a few nice sport stores in Akita as well, but Ginza always has the best one," Himuro looked cheery. "But since it's past noon already, I bet you're hungry," he smirked teasingly at Kagami now.

"You know me so well," Kagami rolled his eyes, planning to be sarcastic. But he had to admit that his stomach had been rumbling for awhile now.

"Do you still eat fast-food as usual? Maji Burger, right?" Himuro asked.

"Yeah, but if you want me to cook, I will cook for you," Kagami said casually.

"Nah, let's save that for dinner. I'll help you make something later. There are still some places I want to visit after this," Himuro was still pulling Kagami's hand, but he didn't exactly protest because his surrogate brother seemed to know exactly where he was going.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, both Himuro and Kagami were already sitting at a table for two in Maji Burger Ginza-branch. Kagami ordered and paid for twenty burgers and a glass of Cola. Himuro settled with a set of French fries, a burger and Pepsi.

"As usual, your appetite is amazing. Even Atsushi wouldn't eat that much at once." Himuro smiled, but he looked rather repulsed as well.

"Murasakibara only likes snacking, right? He'll get cavities for sure," Kagami scoffed while digging in his lunch.

"Oh~, is that concern I heard just now?" Himuro asked teasingly and Kagami almost choked at the sheer absurdity of it. "Don't worry, Taiga. I make sure he always brushes his teeth before going to sleep," he grinned slightly after that.

"What are you, his mom?" Kagami deadpanned at Himuro, sweat dropping slightly.

"Maybe," the teasing tone never left Himuro's voice. Kagami shook his head.

"He won't grow up if everyone around keeps spoiling him like that," Kagami huffed now.

"Now Taiga is playing a father for Atsushi," Himuro chuckled.

Kagami blushed slightly. "That's not what I meant! Jeez, why is it you like teasing me so much?" he was annoyed now.

"Well… isn't that what a big brother does?" Himuro asked keeping his amused grin.

Kagami flushed darker. "Oh man… what did I see in you again?" Now he was questioning his sanity for choosing this guy as a big brother. Himuro just laughed slightly at that.

#

After finishing their lunch, they stayed comfortably inside the restaurant. Now they were relatively silent. Kagami was staring outside the window while absent-mindedly drinking his Cola. Himuro was finishing his French fries while watching Kagami's face.

A few minutes later, Kagami turned to face Himuro, looking self-conscious. "What?" the redhead finally seemed to notice that Himuro was staring at him.

"Hmm… I bet you were thinking about Kuroko-kun just now," Himuro guessed. It was amusing seeing Kagami's very honest expression. His face actually turned scarlet at that accusation.

"W-wha—?! How—? You—!"

And it was also very entertaining watching the redhead get flustered like that.

"If you are that worried over the misunderstanding, you should call him," Himuro advised.

"Oh, shut up! Stop meddling with my relationship with Kuroko!" Now Kagami looked very irritated and embarrassed. Poor thing. He really was awkward about this kind of stuff. "If you really want to talk about love-life, how about you share your own?" he huffed now, sounding as if he challenged Himuro.

Well, Himuro wouldn't be the big brother if he was easily provoked. "I'm too busy with basketball and studying, and… other things, so there's nothing of the sort," he replied easily.

"Huh, really?" Kagami looked surprised. "I was so sure Tatsuya would be popular with girls. You do possess a handsome face and a gentle personality. Girls love that kind of guy."

"There are a few fans here and there, but they are just that, fans," Himuro shrugged.

"There's no one to whom you pay attention more than anyone else?" Kagami seemed to be rather skeptical.

"If you count taking care of an over-grown child…" Himuro trailed off.

"No, let's rephrase the question. Who is your most favorite person to hang-out with except me?" Kagami asked again.

Himuro tilted his head aside, raking his brain to answer that. "Well… that will be Atsushi, I guess," he answered a few seconds later after much consideration.

"Eeeh?" Kagami made a face. "Isn't he troublesome to hang out with?"

Himuro chuckled. "Atsushi is cute when he isn't playing basketball, you know. He's like a child, rather lazy, airheaded, and he follows you around like chicks follow their mom." He remembered how Murasakibara stuck beside him wherever he went. It was adorable and kinda endearing.

"I don't know why you look so happy, but… he's a sadistic bastard on the court. He doesn't even like basketball," Kagami huffed.

"Well, I'm fixing that," Himuro smiled ruefully. "But… his attitude towards basketball has been improving lately, especially after you guys defeated us in Winter Cup. Probably it's the challenge... or the revenge factor. Anyway, he doesn't complain as much as before when we practice. He, just like me, wants to defeat Seirin too, the next time we have a match. I think… it's because you and Kuroko-kun have proven to him that hard-work does matter in basketball," he continued while softening his look.

Kagami's expression turned slightly nostalgic at that. "Of course hard-work matters…. We always practice as hard as we can as well, while pursuing our dream to be number one in Japan after all."

Himuro didn't know if Kagami was talking about himself or about someone else, but such caring and loving expression could only mean that he was thinking about someone very precious. Himuro thought that whoever was at the receiving end of such passion would be a very lucky person.

"Kuroko-kun is a very happy person for having Taiga love him like that," Himuro didn't mean to tease Kagami with that statement, but seriously, Kagami should stop blushing so much or his face will turn scarlet permanently.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"Let's go inside the infamous haunted house!" Kise cheered happily as the six of them stood in front of a haunted mansion inside the mystery play area of the amusement park.

Aomine visibly paled. Midorima just huffed. Takao looked rather excited. Momoi squealed as she exclaimed that she loved haunted house because then she would have excuse to hug her Tetsu-kun if she was scared. Kuroko just stared at the scary house with deadpanned look.

"I'll pass," Aomine was turning around, almost stepping away to leave when his arm was grabbed by his blond boyfriend.

"What are you talking, Aomine-chi? Going to a haunted house is a must do in _any_ dating site," Kise's smiling face was horror for Aomine at that moment.

"Nooooo!" Aomine screeched as he was forcibly dragged by Kise to go inside the despicable haunted mansion.

"I just remembered that Dai-chan is scared of ghost," Momoi chuckled, clearly amused.

"Let's go, Shin-chan!" Takao shamelessly pulled Midorima's hand now, but Midorima couldn't protest because they weren't exactly in public when they were inside the haunted house.

"Shall we go as well?" Kuroko offered his hand to Momoi, and the ex-GoM manager squealed even more loudly in excitement as she accepted such gentle gesture.

"Aww~ Tetsu-kun, I just looooove you!"

Well, it was a reward for Momoi in exchange for hearing Kuroko's problem and promising not to tell the others about it.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Murasakibara blinked slightly as he strutted passing a restaurant from across the street at Ginza. He stopped walking to squint at the sign. It was Maji Burger, a fast-food restaurant. There was one in Akita as well.

He remembered when he and the other GoM used to go to Maji Burger near their middle school together after afternoon practice session in Teikou.

Himuro also ate in Maji Burger sometimes after their afternoon practice in Yousen. Murasakibara usually accompanied him, but he didn't actually eat there. They would sit across each other and Murasakibara would be eating his own snacks while waiting for Himuro to finish his food. Himuro usually would share his drink with him.

Murasakibara couldn't help wondering if he would find Himuro inside that restaurant. He didn't think there was any harm to try. He crossed the street and approached the restaurant. He was about to enter when he caught a glimpse of dark hair and red hair. He tilted his head slightly to change the angle so he could see the inside of the restaurant from the glass window.

Murasakibara widened his eyes slightly as he saw Himuro's face. He looked very… happy. His smile… looked very different from the usual calm, sweet smile he gave everyone else, even Murasakibara. He seemed to be enjoying his time so much. He shifted his gaze to the receiver on it. It was Kagami… and the redhead was grinning widely, seeming to enjoy his time as well.

They looked… very happy together.

Murasakibara didn't like that. Not one bit.

But… he liked Himuro's current expression, more than any expression Himuro had ever shown him. That joyful smile… why wasn't it Murasakibara that could make Himuro smile like that? What did Kagami have that he didn't that could make Himuro choose Kagami over him? Was it his love for basketball? But… even Murasakibara was trying to love the sport… because he didn't want to let Himuro down again.

"Muro-chin… look at me…"

Murasakibara couldn't enter the restaurant. His feet wouldn't move. Despite what he wanted, he just couldn't make his feet move, it was as if they were rooted there. He wished that Himuro was an esper that could hear his heart crying out for him.

_Look at me…._

**End of Kiss Me Sweetly Part 3**

**Tbc…**

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

**1)_Tencho:_** store manager

**2)_Itadakimasu_: **a phrase said before eating.

**A/N: **Oh, the drama~. I'm so sorry, Mukkun. Don't worry, dear. Everything will get better in next chapter. I promise. Also, forgive me for the Momoi/Kuroko moment in it. I just couldn't help it. Momoi needs more love *grins* So… everyone must have realized that this story is stretching more and more, huh? I have nothing else to say aside the occasional 'I just cannot help it'. They are too interesting to write…T_T Ahem, anyway… please give me con-crit as usual. Oh, and tell me what you think of this chapter as well, will you, dear readers?


	4. Part 4

**Disclaimer and Warning: **_**See Part 1**_

**A/N: **Yes, **tora-chan83**, you are AWESOME for beta-ing this story! Thanks a lot! As for readers, sorry for keeping you wait for too long! Your reviews and comments on the previous are amazing! Thank you very much and thanks for faving and alerting as well!

Now to the new chap! ENJOY!

* * *

**Kiss Me Sweetly**

_**Part 4**_

* * *

"What the—? You've got to be kidding me!" Aomine Daiki argued, scrunching up his face in disgust at the sight of the Ferris wheel. "I'm NOT going to ride a stupid, girly ride like—OW!"

Momoi elbowed the dark-skinned boy on his side before he could finish his offensive statement about the Ferris wheel. "Did I hear something?" She asked, smiling with a creepy look on her face.

The others, except Kuroko who set his deadpanned expression, stared at the two childhood friends awkwardly, beads of sweat rolling down their cheeks.

Aomine cursed loudly as he crouched down, nursing his painful side. "Damn you violent woman…!"

"Jeez, Aomine-chi, what's so girly about the Ferris wheel?" Kise asked scooting closer to Aomine before helping the taller boy stand, carefully tending to Aomine's abused organ as well.

"But it is! Besides, there's nothing interesting inside the stupid gondolas," Aomine whined.

"I heard any couple who kisses when the gondola reaches the top of the Ferris wheel will be granted happiness for life," Midorima said slowly, pushing up his glasses which somehow glinted strangely.

Takao immediately held Midorima's other hand and stared at him with sparkling eyes. "Let's ride it together then, Shin-chan! So our love will last for a lifetime!" He seemed to be very enthusiastic now. Well, it wasn't like he showed any sign against the Ferris wheel before, though.

"Huh… how many minutes does it take to ride it in one cycle?" Aomine suddenly looked very serious, seeming to forget his pain after Kise took care of it by caressing it gently.

"Five, maybe ten… I presume. This is quite big for a Ferris wheel. It is more like a giant Ferris," Kuroko said, apparently feeling the need to say something.

"Wow! Such great calculations, Tetsu-kun! You are so smart!" Momoi squealed at him happily.

"Heeh, then it's enough time to have a Ferris wheel _sex—_ARGH!"

Now it was Kise who punched Aomine on his gut, face flushing hard in total mortification.

"Damn it, Kise! What the hell was that for?!" Aomine yelled at the blond while holding his stomach, totally furious.

"You're too much! I can't believe you're thinking about something like that! I'm NOT riding the gondola with you!" Kise hissed in retaliation, pretty pissed off too. "I'm going with Momoi-chi!" then, thrusting his tongue out at Aomine, he grabbed Momoi's arm.

"Eh?!" Momoi was visibly surprised.

"Then let's trade pairs. I'll go with Kuroko," Midorima suggested as he grabbed Kuroko's hand.

Kuroko only blinked in surprise at that.

"Whaaaaat?! But I wanna ride with Shin-chan!" Takao protested at the sight of his Shin-chan pulling Kuroko.

"I wanna ride with Tetsu-kuuuuun!" Momoi wailed as Kise pulled her along with him as well.

However, before Aomine could yell out his complaint too, both Kise and Midorima had Momoi and Kuroko inside separate gondolas. A second later, they slammed the doors closed, leaving Aomine to pair with Takao to ride the last empty gondola.

The operator of the fun-ride could only stare open mouthed, sweating profoundly, at the very weird, and ridiculous sight the two made. The taller, dark-blue haired boy cursed with slang language from Mars while the shorter, darker haired one sighed dejectedly, before they also walked toward a gondola and entered it.

#

"Ki-chan… what the hell are you doing…?!" Momoi pouted at Kise with tears at the corner of her eyes, extremely upset and aggravated because she had really wanted to ride the vehicle with Kuroko.

"Sorry, Momoi-chi," Kise clasped both his hands in front of his face, having the decency to look guilty as he stared at her pleadingly. "But we need to talk… about Kuroko-chi's problem," he smiled ruefully then, a bead of sweat prickling out his cheek.

Momoi blinked back her tears. "Is that the sole reason you guys asked me to come?" She questioned, still pouting. Though, now she was accusing him of not caring about her at all

"Of course not! Well, we wanted you to look for the information, of course, but we indeed wanted to play with you as well… after all, it's really been awhile since we got to play outside together like this," Kise said looking sincere. But he was a model for a reason and Momoi couldn't help feeling rather skeptical.

"Well, then, you should let me ride the Ferris wheel with Tetsu-kun!" Momoi still couldn't accept it, so Kise started to cry his crocodile tears.

"Momoi-chi…"

#

This was… a very unusual scene.

Kuroko couldn't stop staring at the still Midorima who sat on the seat across his own. He wasn't sure why Midorima suddenly suggested something like changing partners to ride the Ferris wheel. He thought this was supposed to be double… triple dates, so why didn't he ride with Takao instead?

Well, at least it was quiet inside the gondola. For some reason, Kuroko felt relaxed there in the comfortable silence. Kuroko could actually think peacefully like this since he couldn't before. Being dragged around and interrogated by Momoi was rather tiring since he had to be on his constant guard so he wouldn't slip.

However, in the end Kuroko couldn't help but tell the pink haired girl the main problem of his concern. She was a handful to deal with….

Kuroko averted his gaze from Midorima's calm features to the scenery outside the window of the gondola. He smiled slightly as he stared at the grayish sky. It wasn't dark yet, but he couldn't see the sun. The clouds hid it most of the time. The houses and people below looked about as small as ants. It was an amazing view in many ways.

_I want to show Kagami-kun this view…—_Kuroko couldn't help thinking. He must have showed something in his expression because Midorima then spoke.

"Are you having fun?"

Kuroko blinked, turning to face Midorima again. "Yes," he answered evenly.

"Good. Because Kise wouldn't shut up if this foolish date didn't work," Midorima took off his glasses before he cleaned the lens with his handkerchief.

Midorima had such long eyelashes. He looked pretty without the glasses. He was also very considerate despite not showing it much.

Kuroko smiled slightly at the thought. "Thank you for this. Midorima-kun is very nice," he said.

Midorima flinched slightly, looking rather uncomfortable somehow. "It's not like I wanted to. Everyone is very pushy about this, even that idiotic Aomine," he huffed.

"No, I meant about this changing pairs," Kuroko corrected. It seemed that Midorima had misunderstood.

"Oh? Why did you thank me for something like that?" Midorima raised his eyebrows, looking puzzled.

"Well, you must have seen how Momoi-san clings to me and drags me around. I figured that you felt pity towards me. Hence the changing pairs so I can take a breather," Kuroko glanced out the window again.

"You thought about it too far. It was just on a whim," Midorima objected. Putting his cleaned glasses back on, he looked away slightly.

Though, despite not admitting it, the hint of blush on his cheeks was enough to inform Kuroko that he had hit the bull's eye.

"But… really, the fact that all of you are so worried about me makes me feel very grateful," Kuroko said, closing his eyes. He could practically feel the warmth coming from the affection his friends had towards him.

"Then stop worrying Kise and the others," _and me_—which was left unsaid, but Kuroko could read between lines, anyway. "If you need to talk, we will hear it."

Kuroko smiled slightly and shook his head slowly. "Your sentiment is more than enough. Moreover, it is just a baseless worry anyway. I have to have more faith in that person regarding his relationship with Kagami-kun…" he whispered the last part to himself calmly. They spent the rest of ride in comfortable silence once again.

#

"This is very disheartening," Aomine groaned as he thumped his forehead on the glass window.

"Tell me about it," Takao rolled his eyes in boredom as well.

"Kise is getting violent lately," Aomine sighed in defeat.

"I believe that's your fault," Takao retorted evenly.

Aomine gave him a glare. "What about you? Have your and Midorima's relationship progressed _somewhere_?" he smirked, intending to embarrass the point guard.

"Shut up," Takao blushed slightly. "It's not like we don't want to, but Shin-chan is very awkward and he's so cautious as well," he ended, sounding whiny. It seemed Takao had decided to consult to Aomine.

Aomine stuck his pinky in one of his ears. "Midorima is such stick in the mud. You should take the initiative. Attack him," he dared.

"And risk getting kicked in the butt?" Takao narrowed his eyes accusingly at Aomine.

"Your relationship won't go anywhere if you don't take any chance and risk," the dark-skinned boy drawled, smirking again. "Once you show him what you're capable of, he'll surrender," His smirk widened at that.

Takao seemed to contemplate the idea before he huffed. "That might work, but… I'm not the attacker type here," he confessed.

Aomine sputtered at that. "Wha—you're not?" He was surprised. He had thought, with Takao's personality, that he was an attacker.

"Despite how I usually act, I'm quite submissive, you know," Takao fiddled with the hem of his sweater, the one Midorima had bought him just this morning.

Aomine snorted. "Seriously? That's like bottom and bottom getting on each other. I wanna see," He laughed so hard that he almost doubled over.

Takao pouted at him. "Shin-chan is quite aggressive when he wants to!" he protested now.

"Yeah, right," Aomine rolled his eyes sarcastically. "You should really seduce him so he'll want to attack you, you know. If you only wait and do nothing, he'll never make a move. Since he's the type of a guy who won't even try to touch his lover before marriage," he huffed, sounding indignant.

"Well… that might be true…" Tako seemed to be deep in thought before a smile bloomed on his face. "I think I'll do that. Thanks for the tips, Aomine," he grinned at him now.

"Don't mention it," Aomine replied, satisfied with how things turned out.

"But you should really hold back on your exhibitionist urge. Kise is a model. He has a reputation to maintain," Takao added.

A vein of annoyance popped out on Aomine's temple. "Then he shouldn't date a guy if he's really worried about his reputation."

"That's not fair, Aomine. Kise took the risk of losing his job and popularity to date you. Being considerate of his situation is the least you can do for him, if you really love him as much as you claim to, that is," Takao said looking serious. Aomine was taken back slightly at the graveness of his tone. But then, Takao smiled again at him. "If you don't learn to compromise, Kise will get bored with you and dump you."

That wasn't funny at all. But, even Aomine had realized that only a few people could deal with his personality and stay around. Maybe for once he would actually listen to someone else's advice for good.

"Is that how you deal with Midorima's unique personality?" Aomine chuckled humorously.

"You can say that," Takao responded, grinning even more widely.

Surprisingly, Aomine could have decent conversation with Takao. He was a very easy person to talk with, and he had a good nature too. Suddenly Aomine understood why even the allegedly asexual Midorima would want to be with the Shuutoku point guard.

Kuroko was right. Midorima was in good hands.

#

Done with the ride, everyone once again gathered near the entrance of the amusement park. The sky was quite dark now and it was almost 5 p.m.

"Have we tried everything?" Kise looked at the map of the amusement park.

"I believe we have," Kuroko nodded.

"Well, wanna grab something to eat now?" Aomine looked hungry as he said that.

"Maji Burger?" Takao suggested.

"Ugh… not fast food again…!" Midorima visibly groaned.

"Why are you so against eating in a fast-food restaurant, Midorima-kun? Didn't we go to Maji Burger all the times after practice during middle school?" Momoi asked, looking confused.

"That's the reason. I'm sick of fast-food. Akashi always decided to go there whenever we ate together after practice," Midorima explained, his complexion was paler than usual as he showed his distaste.

"The vanilla shake there is delicious, though," Kuroko objected evenly, as if it could solve any problem.

"Well, sorry for not being a vanilla shake maniac like you are," Midorima huffed, looking annoyed.

"That's mean, Midorima-chi! Don't talk like that to Kuroko-chi!" Kise protested.

"Shut it, Kise. Your voice is too loud," Aomine grunted, looking irritated.

"Waaah! Aomine-chi, so meaaaaan!" Kise wailed much to everyone's annoyance.

"Why are all the GoM such eccentric guys…?" Takao sweat dropped as he inched slightly away from the crowd.

"Okay, now, hold your horses, guys," Momoi intervened before a fight broke out. Everyone immediately stopped their arguing and turned to face her. "Sheesh, boys…. Let's do this the old fashion way; play basketball to decide where to eat," she announced grinning.

Everyone immediately groaned.

"I'm too hungry… can't move…" Aomine mumbled lazily.

"I just want to go home," Kuroko sighed tiredly.

"I want to have some alone time with Shin-chan~" Takao smirked playfully before he latched himself onto Midorima's arm.

"I-idiot!" Midorima gave the dark haired teen a chop on his forehead, his face flushing slightly.

Momoi stared at them ridiculously.

"Come on, guys~ don't be such a kill joy," Kise pouted at them all. "I still want to have some fun~!"

In the end, they all walked out of the amusement park still arguing about what they would do next.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Kagami and Himuro just finished their late lunch. The sky was almost dark when they got out of Maji Burger.

They had talked a lot about things that happened when they were separated and now Himuro was joking about Kagami being too soft-hearted whenever he dealt with the GoM since they were all Kuroko's precious ex-teammates.

"Honestly, I understand that Akashi Seijuurou is capable of being the GoM's captain, but that absolute loyalty those members have towards him is already at a disturbing level," Kagami grunted, seeming to remember his meeting with the shorter red haired teen.

"I haven't yet met Akashi-kun in person. But Atsushi seems to be very fond of him…" Himuro and Kagami were about to cross the street when he noticed a very tall guy sitting on a bench just at the side of the restaurant entrance.

Himuro blinked as he recognized the violet colored hair and that bored expression of a certain center. "Atsushi?"

"What?" Kagami seemed to have heard him and turned around to look as well. "Murasakibara?"

Murasakibara looked upward slightly to meet Himuro's eyes. He looked rather… distracted, somehow. "Muro-chin…" His breath turned white puff and the older teen reacted at that.

"You…!" Himuro immediately approached the younger boy. "What are you doing in a place like this with light clothes? It's winter for god's sake!" He immediately touched Murasakibara's cheeks with his palms. They were as cold as ice. "Oh, jeez…! Your body is so cold…! What if you get sick?" He was upset now.

"Muro-chin…" Murasakibara started, about to say something, but Himuro cut him off.

"Not now! We should warm you up first. Taiga, can we go _home_ now?" Himuro turned to face Kagami who looked rather bewildered at the turn of events.

"Oh, alright…" Kagami responded to him in surprise.

However, for some reason Murasakibara looked displeased. He caught Himuro's wrist and stopped his movement, and looked at Himuro with a slightly pleading and desperate look.

"What, Atsushi?" Himuro faced Murasakibara again, puzzled.

"Muro-chin, don't…" Murasakibara spoke slowly.

"Don't what?" Himuro was confused now. He wasn't making any sense.

"Don't… your _home _isn't with him…!" Murasakibara said, tightening his hold on Himuro's wrist, bordering into clenching.

"Ow, At-Atsushi…?" Of course, Himuro felt the pain.

"Come home with me…" Then Murasakibara pulled Himuro closer, surprising Himuro when his face was suddenly very close to Murasakibara's.

"Atsu—?!" Himuro widened his eyes as Murasakibara leaned up and then closed the small distance between their lips with a kiss.

Kagami made a very funny squeaking sound on the background, seeming to be in shock. But Himuro couldn't really point out how absurd the redhead must have looked as well, because his brain stopped functioning at Murasakibara's sudden surprising action.

No, it wasn't like Himuro had never been kissed before. Of course he had, more than once, and not just by girls but guys as well back in the States. But this… this was Murasakibara Atsushi. He was supposed to be just a friend, an overgrown child who never thought about anything past snacks and lazing around.

_Then why is he kissing me now?_—Himuro was utterly perplexed as he felt the surprisingly warm kiss on his mouth despite the cold state of his body. His lips were full and rather soft albeit a little dry. Moreover, Murasakibara's kiss wasn't a chaste kiss. He was using his tongue, damn it! _Since when has Atsushi learned to kiss like—?!_

Himuro's train of thought was cut _again _at a particularly distracting swipe of Murasakibara's tongue on his lower lip and he gasped. A wrong move really, because then he opened his mouth, making Murasakibara think that it was okay to plunge his hot slick organ into his mouth. Immediately, a sweet flavor exploded on his taste buds at the invasion.

"Nnh…!" Himuro couldn't help closing his eyes and moaning as he felt that tongue on his own, licking inside him, curling and coaxing Himuro's tongue to move together with his in a sensual dance.

Himuro still couldn't move his hands because Murasakibara had established a vice grip on his wrists, so pushing the taller boy away was out of options. He couldn't pull back as well. In short, he was completely trapped without any way to escape. Worse, he was being kissed so hard and deeply such that he was unable to do anything except to stop resisting.

Himuro couldn't help but go lax and accept the kiss like a man. Well, it felt exceptional anyway.

Himuro gasped again, feeling the burning of his lungs craving for air, but Murasakibara didn't let go of the kiss. Himuro was panting now, but part of his lips was still connected with Murasakibara's. He even bit his lower lip lightly, the sensation a little bit too overwhelming.

"Nnh…hah… ah, w-wait…! Atsu—ah!" Himuro was –_god knew why_- getting into it, his knees buckling and body feeling hot and bothered, as the kiss seemed to morph into something else. Something more… _intimate_. He felt little bites, licks and nips from the corner of his lips, to his jaw, down to his neck, here and there, and—

Oh god. This was crazy. What was he doing? No, what were they doing? But Himuro couldn't think properly with those assaults on his sensitive spots.

"Oh holy mother fu—! Hold it right there!" Kagami's mortified screech followed by a strong grab and a pull to part Murasakibara and Himuro from each other interrupted the act and finally, the hot sexy connection was severed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in public?!" The redhead was still yelling, looking very red in the face.

Murasakibara threw Kagami an annoyed glare while Himuro was still trying to sort his shallow hard breaths. He could still feel the tingling on his lips, the sweet taste in his mouth, and he must have been blushing because his face still felt very hot.

_What just happened?_—Now that Himuro's senses were coming back, he was befuddled as hell.

"Sheesh! Look around first before doing something like that so suddenly!" Kagami seemed to be fuming out of embarrassment, of course, because he had to witness such a heated event. Hell, even Himuro was quite shocked at this.

Murasakibara seemed to ignore Kagami completely, much to Kagami's chagrin. He kept staring at Himuro with a deep somber expression. "Muro-chin…" He called him softly with his deep voice, sounding almost pleading.

Himuro flinched slightly and took a step back, looking at Murasakibara rather warily. He was still confused; his feelings were completely messed up. He didn't understand why he was suddenly french-kissed like that by Murasakibara, worse, right in front of Kagami… and a LOT of passersby who stopped just to gawk in shock at the sight.

Murasakibara seemed to take the silence and Himuro's look as something very negative because he looked down immediately, looking dejected. He slowly stood up before turning around.

"Atsu—" Himuro jerked, wanting to call him, but his voice was suddenly caught in his throat. He couldn't move as Murasakibara walked away even though he wanted to stop him.

Kagami, upon watching everything that had just transpired, scratched his head curtly. Letting out a deep sigh, his face took on very surprised and confused expression. "Oh dear…" But he seemed to understand that this was a serious problem.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Kuroko and the gang decided to split up because he insisted that he was very tired and would like to go home quickly to rest, despite Kise's whining and Aomine's protests. Midorima just huffed and Takao offered to escort him if he wanted.

Momoi volunteered immediately, of course, but she was ultimately held down by Aomine and Kise, who were each holding an arm because they needed to speak with her.

"I will be fine by myself," Kuroko said with a small smile, amused by the sight of Kise and Aomine clinging onto Momoi like children to their mother. It was an endearing sight. He felt rather bad for Momoi, though.

"Don't take any detours," Midorima reminded.

Kuroko wanted to retort that he was not a child, but decided against it since it wasn't worth the effort. "See you guys some other time," He waved as he turned around and walked away, leaving the group.

It was evening now. The sky was completely dark and the wind blew rather strongly. It was very cold. Kuroko wondered if it would snow soon. He puffed his breath out on his hands, wanting to feel the slight warmth. He was easily cold after all. He wished Kagami was there. Then, the bigger taller redhead could warm him up with his body heat.

Kagami always had higher a body temperature. Kuroko remembered how warm it was inside Kagami's embrace. Suddenly he felt very lonely as the cold enveloped him. "I miss Kagami-kun…" He sighed deeply.

_I want to see him. Maybe I will stop by his place before going home. But, about Himuro-san—_

As Kuroko turned at the junction of the road, he didn't pay attention to his front and he bumped into someone. "Oh, I am sorry," Kuroko stepped back and bowed slightly before he looked upward at the man he had bumped into. He blinked in surprise as Murasakibara's blank face greeted him.

"Murasakibara-kun?" Kuroko called out unsure. Of course he immediately knew something was amiss at Murasakibara's look. Surely, he was quiet and often looking disinterested, but his vacant expression at that moment was weird.

Moreover, Murasakibara wasn't holding any bags of snacks and he wasn't eating as well. It was alarming. "Murasakibara-kun? Are you okay?" Kuroko asked, trying to attract the taller boy's attention.

A few seconds after calling and pulling at Murasakibara's sleeve, the violet haired boy seemed to notice his presence for the first time. "Oh… Kuro-chin…"

Then something unbelievable happened. A bead of tears dropped from the corner of Murasakibara's right eye, before another and another, soon leading to tears continuously dropping from both eyes.

Kuroko widened his eyes slightly in surprise at that. _Why is he crying?_—He could only stare dumbly at the purple haired boy. After all, Kuroko had never seen Murasakibara cry. Well, once, when Seirin defeated Yousen at Winter Cup, but he wouldn't dream of seeing Murasakibara cry in everyday life.

"Murasakibara-kun…" Kuroko reached up to Murasakibara's face to swipe the tears with his pointer finger.

Murasakibara blinked slightly, seeming to be surprised. He tilted his head up before he moved to dry his own tears with the hem of his sleeve. "Huh?" He looked slightly confused after that.

"What's wrong?" Kuroko was rather worried even though his lack of expression didn't show it.

"I…" Murasakibara paused, seeming to think over what he wanted to say, but the wind blew rather strongly soon after, causing Murasakibara to sneeze.

"Oh, you must be cold…" Kuroko noticed how light Murasakibara's attire was despite the long sleeves.

"Now that you mention it…" Murasakibara held his own body and shivered lightly.

"Let's go somewhere to warm you up. You will catch a cold like this," Kuroko reasoned. He grabbed Murasakibara's hand and pulled the taller boy to the nearest store he could find in the area.

Luckily, there was a tea house just nearby. They immediately went inside and the waitress welcomed them with a cheery greeting and a nice smile.

"Welcome, Mr. Customers. Table for two?" she inquired politely.

"Yes. The warmest table, please." Kuroko was rather surprised that the waitress could spot him immediately. It was rather rare occurrence since he was usually very unnoticeable. Maybe it was because he stood closely to Murasakibara. As much as he hated to admit it, the difference in their heights was too striking.

"Please follow me then," she said, then guiding Kuroko and Murasakibara to their table.

Kuroko glanced at Murasakibara inconspicuously after they sat down at the table. The taller boy was stroking his arms beyond the sleeves. His body was still noticeably shivering, but it was slightly better than before and he wasn't as pale. There was the remnant of the tears at the corner of his amethyst eyes, but he wasn't crying anymore.

Kuroko still couldn't believe that Murasakibara had cried. Moreover, he looked very worried at that moment. With the absence of his snacks, what could possibly happen? What was he thinking at this moment? Of course Kuroko was very curious, but he didn't want to be pushy and force the other boy to speak if he didn't want to.

Kuroko sighed as he ordered a cup of hot green tea for himself and a cup of warm milk tea for Murasakibara since the boy didn't seem too keen about ordering for himself. The waitress left them immediately after noting their orders.

Then, there was silence between Kuroko and Murasakibara. Kuroko kept his even stare at the taller boy, but he didn't seem to be bothered by it. Murasakibara just kept silent while looking at the table-cloth as if it was a very interesting object. Though, his blank look was an indication that he was thinking about something.

"Do you want to order sweets too, Murasakibara-kun?" Kuroko began. It was a test to see if there was really something wrong with Murasakibara.

Of course, Murasakibara didn't hear that the first time. Kuroko had to repeat the question three times and add a pull to Murasakibara's sleeve, which was on the table, to gain his attention. The purple haired teen blinked slightly before he looked back at Kuroko's eyes. "Oh, sorry… Kuro-chin," he finally responded, looking rather sheepish.

"That is okay. I am just confused and rather surprised that Murasakibara-kun does not have any snacks with him." Kuroko replied evenly, not even offended that the taller boy practically ignored his presence moments ago. "Did something happen?" he continued asking, causing Murasakibara to look down again, this time on his lap.

"I… have made Muro-chin angry," Murasakibara said slowly, his eyes forlorn and he looked very miserable when he said that, just like a sad child.

Kuroko tilted his head aside, rather confused. "Himuro-san?" He thought Himuro was spending time with Kagami.

Murasakibara nodded. "I… kissed Muro-chin."

Kuroko's right eye twitched slightly at that, surprised, _very surprised_. "Huh?"

"But… Muro-chin didn't like it, probably. He looked mad after that…"

"Wait, wait a moment," Kuroko stopped Murasakibara's sulky ramble while raising his hand. "When did this happen?"

Murasakibara tilted his head slightly, thinking, before he answered "Just now."

"…"

"…"

"In Kagami-kun's apartment?" Kuroko couldn't help asking after a long silence because it didn't make any sense. Himuro was supposedly with Kagami the whole day in Kagami's apartment to bond after all.

Murasakibara shook his head lightly. "Outside Maji Burger… ah, but Kagami was there as well. He looked like he was kinda freaking out after that."

_Well, I can imagine that—_Kuroko mused silently. _So they went out to eat, huh? I thought Kagami-kun would cook something for him._

"So… why did you kiss Himuro-san, Murasakibara-kun?" Kuroko raised another question. He was curious of Murasakibara's motive after all.

Murasakibara looked down. "I don't know."

This wasn't helping at all. "How could you not know?"

"I just…" Murasakibara's expression turned rather sour, "-don't like… that Muro-chin looks so happy with Kagami…"

Jealousy? "Did you follow Himuro-san here from Akita?" Kuroko didn't blame Himuro from getting angry if Murasakibara stalked him. But it wasn't like Murasakibara at all to do such troublesome things. Maybe he was smitten with Himuro?

"No. I originally came here to stock my snacks, but… I missed Muro-chin, so I walked around to find him and I saw him with Kagami in Maji Burger. I… suddenly felt upset when I saw them together like that… and I didn't know why. I just feel that… I want to be the one who makes Muro-chin smile and laugh so happily like that…"

It was the first time Kuroko heard so many words from Murasakibara in a conversation. This must have been very big. Maybe the 'smitten' theory wasn't far off.

"Murasakibara-kun… do you like Himuro-san?" There was no point in beating around the bush. Kuroko just wanted to make sure that it was what he thought it was.

Murasakibara positively nodded in answer.

"More than everyone else?" Kuroko asked further.

Murasakibara paused slightly before he nodded again.

"More than Akashi-kun?"

This time, Murasakibara looked hesitant, but in the end he nodded after much consideration.

"Well, who would have thought?" Kuroko sighed with a small smile. Murasakibara was like a child most of the time outside the court, but… he could fall in love too.

Murasakibara still looked rather puzzled at Kuroko's words, so the teal blue haired boy touched his hand and said it bluntly, "Murasakibara-kun is in love with Himuro-san."

"In… love?" Murasakibara tilted his head aside, looking mildly surprised.

"Yes," Kuroko nodded. "You want to monopolize Himuro-san for yourself, right?"

Murasakibara seemed to think seriously at that and he immediately nodded. "Un."

"Then you should tell him that before kissing him, or else he won't understand it." Kuroko advised.

"Is that why he got mad?" Now Murasakibara looked worried.

"Maybe, but… I believe he must have been more surprised than anything. I do not think Himuro-san is a close-minded person. I think he will forgive you if you apologize properly." Kuroko smiled again, reassuringly this time.

For a moment, Murasakibara looked relieved before a loud rumbling sound was heard. "Ah… now I'm hungry," the purple haired teen put his forefinger on his lips. "I want snacks…"

Kuroko almost chuckled at the child-like expression his friend had. That was more like the Murasakibara Atsushi he had always known.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

About the same time, Kagami and Himuro were on their way to Kagami's apartment.

"I didn't know you and Murasakibara are _like that_." Kagami spoke slowly breaking the very uncomfortable silence between them.

Himuro still looked rather shocked from earlier, so he didn't say anything at first as they walked home. But he thought Himuro told him he wasn't dating anyone at the moment. So really, Kagami was curious as hell about what had just happened at Maji Burger.

"We aren't," was Himuro's low reply. He had yet to look back at Kagami at all, during the walk.

"Err… but he kissed you. This is Murasakibara, so he must like you very much," Kagami noted.

"That's a given. I like Atsushi too," came another low reply, but there was also a hint of confusion in his tone.

"No, it's not 'like' _suki_ (1), you know. It's 'love' _suki_," Kagami pushed.

Now Himuro stopped walking, so Kagami stopped as well. He turned to face Kagami with an incredulous expression on his face. "Then it should be _ai_ (2) and not _suki_. What is wrong with Japanese language?" He shook his head after that, looking exasperated.

"Why are we even debating about this?" Kagami's head hurt slightly.

"You are the one who brought it up," Himuro said shooting him a glare.

"Right, my bad… but really, even I know he loves you, Tatsuya," Kagami sighed.

"I'm more concerned about the fact that he knew how to kiss like that," Himuro sighed deeply as well. "And he is such a child too…"

"You are pretty surprised at this turn of event," Kagami noted again.

"Of course I am surprised. I didn't believe that he thought about stuff like 'like' and 'love' and such. His brain was supposed to be filled with snacks and sweets after all," Himuro scratched the back of his neck, looking rather uncomfortable.

"But you aren't repulsed by the kiss," Kagami stated.

Himuro looked another way with a hint of a blush on his pale cheeks.

"Really? You like him _that way_ as well?" Kagami asked dryly.

"S-shut up! He's just my type, okay? It doesn't mean I 'love' him like that," Himuro denied half-heartedly. "And he's a good kisser too. Who would have imagined that?"

"Maybe you've already fall for him too. You just don't realize it," Kagami told him as he resumed his walk. Himuro followed him with a protest.

"It was just a kiss, Taiga. I kissed some people in the past too, and it wasn't love," Himuro insisted.

"I think it is love enough that you let a guy kiss you," Kagami disagreed.

Himuro looked annoyed and before Kagami knew what he was up to, he had stopped in front of Kagami and grabbed his collar, pulling him down for a kiss on the lips.

Kagami immediately blanched and turned several shades of blue before he pushed Himuro away. He made a puking sound while crouching on the ground.

"That's RUDE!" Himuro yelled, sounding very irritated.

"What the freaking hell was that for, Tatsuya!?" Kagami screeched in shock after he was done with the puking act.

"What's your problem?! Alex kisses you all the time and you're okay with it!" Himuro protested.

"That's different and you know why!" Kagami retaliated more loudly. "Sheesh… that's what it feels like when you are kissed by a _guy_ you don't love. It's repulsing," the redhead huffed.

"Huh? Is that so? But I'm fine kissing you," Himuro said, seeming to be rather confused.

"That's because you are too open-minded," Kagami scratched his head again curtly. Somehow, this turned out to be more problematic and he didn't like complications _at all_. "Moreover, kissing Tatsuya is like kissing my own brother. That's even more wrong in so many levels," he continued.

"Still… being kissed by someone you really like will feel different than kissing generally, right?" Himuro asked, seeming to think about it deeply. "Maybe I have to kiss Atsushi again to feel it. Since I was more surprised than anything when he suddenly kissed me earlier," he mumbled out loud. Kagami wished he had been deaf because it was very embarrassing to listen to, and he didn't need to hear about Himuro's love-life.

"Well, I need to find Atsushi then," Himuro suddenly decided.

"Bring a sweater and a coat along. It's exceptionally cold tonight. Murasakibara is wearing light clothes right now, right?" Kagami suggested.

"Yes, that will be great. Taiga is as caring as ever, huh?" Himuro teased.

"Oh, shut up," Kagami punched Himuro's arm lightly in embarrassment as they arrive back to Kagami's apartment.

Kagami immediately fetched his sweater and coat since his size was the closest one to Murasakibara's, handing them to Himuro before the dark haired teen went out again. He watched Himuro as the older teen took his cell-phone and dialed some numbers, probably Murasakibara's, to pinpoint his location before he walked away to find the big baby.

Kagami sighed deeply as he closed his door once again. He entered his living room and immediately noticed Himuro's bag on the couch. It was open.

_Sheesh, Tatsuya can be careless sometimes_—Kagami approached the bag, intending to close it when something inside it caught his eyes. It was an envelope. The envelope itself wasn't something special, but the logo printed on the header piqued Kagami's interest.

It was a Tokyo's International Hospital logo.

_Why is Tatsuya holding an envelope from a hospital?_

Then a memory flashed inside Kagami's head.

"_The reason is bigger than what I mentioned, indeed, but it isn't that kind of reason. It is more… personal, you see…"_

"Tatsuya…?" Suddenly Kagami felt rather worried. He wasn't bright, but if that cryptic explanation was combined with that envelope… He could only conjure up one thing out of it. Was it a health issue?

Of course, going through someone else things without their permission was unethical, but Kagami was too worried to care about it, so he took the envelope (it was open anyway) and looked at the letter inside.

It was some kind of test result or something. Kagami couldn't really understand the content, but something definitely caught his attention. BIG TIME.

Kagami widened his eyes. "EEEEEEEEEEH?!" He screeched in shock at the revelation.

**End of Part 4**

**Tbc…**

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

**1.**_**Suki**_**:** like, love, platonic love

**2.**_**Ai**_**:** love, romantic love

**A/N: **Yes. I am an evil cliff-hanger writer. Deal with it. #shot

Sorry about that, guys. It turns out to be 5 shots instead of four. I'm sorry. I just want to make things as clear and as careful as I can. This story will lead directly to the next of the mini-series with Akashi in it, so there will be something-like-cliff-hanger-end in next chapter. I hope you're okay with it. But the focus of this story will still resolve Mura/Himu problem, so don't worry about unfinished business *grins*.

So, what do you think of this chapter? As always, con-crit will be expected! XD


	5. Part 5

**Disclaimer and Warning: **_**See Part 1 and beware of a twist**_

**Beta: ****tora-chan83**, thank you very much for your assistance, beta-ing, proof-reading and fixing the mistakes and inconsistency in the original version! *bows*

**A/N: **Sorry for making you wait, readers. This chapter is a bit longer than the previous one, so it's a bit of a hassle to check as well. Oh, and I'm sorry for still unable to reply your reviews (still very busy with work, so only have time to write and post o ). I can assure you that I read all of them and am very happy and appreciate every faves and alerts as well! ^_^

Now, please~ enjoy this new and the last part of this series, guys! XD

* * *

**Kiss Me Sweetly**

_**Part 5**_

* * *

"Come on, Satsuki, tell us what Tetsu told you already," Aomine gave his childhood friend an exasperated sigh at her stubbornness.

"No," the pink haired girl narrowed her eyes in a final look. "I've promised Tetsu-kun that his secret will be safe with me and I'm not going to betray his trust for _anything_, including you, Dai-chan."

"Please~, Momoi-chi~" Kise gave her his best puppy eyes while clapping both of his hands in front of his face. "We want to help Kuroko-chi!"

"No means no. Can't you understand what the meaning of 'no' is? It's 'negative', _nay,_ something that betrays your expectation," Momoi huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest while tilting her chin up regally.

"Momoi-chan can be quite stubborn, huh?" Takao laughed amusedly at the futile attempts of the couple to seduce Momoi to leak the information regarding Kuroko's mysterious problem.

Midorima was quiet as he seemed to think about something. Kise and Aomine were still arguing with, or more like pleading, to Momoi to give them any hint, but she was like a giant wall that refused to crumble and give in.

"You know," at Midorima's sudden announcement, the argument went into a halt. "I might have known something about it." The green haired boy pushed his glasses up his nose bridge as the others turned to face him, listening to what he wanted to say.

"Oh right, Shin-chan was with Kuroko in the gondola," Takao punched his own palm in realization.

Kise and Aomine immediately scooted closer to their fellow GoM teammate. "What did Kuroko-chi say?" Kise looked at the taller teen earnestly while Aomine looked somewhat curious.

"Kuroko might not have realized it, but at that time, he talked out loud. It was something about having more faith in 'someone' regarding his relationship with Kagami, or something like that," Midorima recited what he had accidentally heard.

Aomine frowned, appearing confused while Kise tilted his head aside with a wondering look. "Who is 'someone'?" the blond asked.

"I don't know. But I figure if it has something to do with Kagami, we should ask the person directly," Midorima suggested.

"That is a wonderful idea, Shin-chan!" Takao grinned widely at his boyfriend, feeling so proud that Midorima was so smart and thoughtful. "You are so considerate!" and then he hugged Midorima's arm playfully.

"It's nothing. I'm just being practical," Midorima replied curtly, but the blush on his cheeks was a dead giveaway that he was more embarrassed (and probably happy) for being praised, especially by Takao.

"Well, that might be faster than trying to make Satsuki talk," Aomine instantly agreed.

"If that's what it takes to help Kuroko-chi…" Kise also seemed so eager to do just that.

"Then, shall we visit Kagami's apartment?" Takao inquired. Everyone, except Momoi, nodded.

"I'm not going to tag along," Momoi refused. "I'm going home." Then she started to walk away, leaving the guys.

"Err… do any of you know where Kagami's apartment is?" Takao asked again before the pink haired girl had a chance to run away completely.

Upon realizing that none of them had any idea where Kagami's house was, Aomine and Kise instantly moved like mad men to capture Momoi once again to get the redhead's address.

Momoi seemed to think that just giving Kagami's address didn't mean breaking her promise to Kuroko about keeping his problem a secret from the guys, so she relented and gave them Kagami's address. "You didn't get his address from me," she warned.

"Of course, Momoi-chi~. You are the best!" Kise gave the ex-GoM manager a hug of appreciation.

"Well, at least she's useful for something," Aomine yawned in boredom and that earned a painful pull of his ear by Momoi herself. He yelped in pain and a string of nasty curses left his mouth before she seemed satisfied torturing him and let go.

"Don't do something stupid, okay? I don't think Tetsu-kun will appreciate it if you guys interfere with his love-life too much," Momoi warned. The others, except for Midorima who only almost crushed his rose (lucky item, remember?), yelped in shock.

_She knows?!_—was in Takao's mind, but the Shuutoku point guard was sure as hell that all of them thought about the same thing as him at that moment. Kise even gaped. Aomine was sweating profoundly and Midorima looked rather nervous.

"Oh, and I know about you guys too," Momoi smirked while staring at the four guys knowingly.

Kise passed out in embarrassment. Aomine face-palmed, blushing as well. This time Midorima almost broke his glasses and Takao could only laugh awkwardly, having the decency to blush in embarrassment as well.

_Never underestimate a woman's intuition, huh?_—again, Takao was sure he shared that thought with the other guys.

"Now excuse me. I have a drama television to catch," Momoi then combed her hair back before once again walking away. This time, no one dared to stop her in fear of another revelation about something they tried to keep a secret.

A few moments of awkward silence later, Takao felt the need to break it. "Um… let's go?" He didn't know why he sounded like asking.

"Right, we'd better get going," Midorima agreed before he muttered lowly that it was Takao's fault that Momoi caught them.

Takao didn't want to argue since antagonizing his Shin-chan wasn't a good idea, so he just reasoned positively. "At least you won't have to tell her with your own mouth now." He grinned again.

Aomine scratched his hair in vexation as he stared at the still crouching Kise who was suspiciously mumbling "Aomine-chi's fault… we were seen…" or something along those lines.

Takao almost laughed again at how ridiculous this situation was, but he was distracted as he saw something at the end of the road where they were on at that moment. "Huh?" It was actually Kagami Taiga himself… and he was walking with someone.

"What's wrong, Takao?" Midorima asked as he seemed to notice Takao's sudden interest.

"Isn't that Kagami?" Takao didn't hesitate to point at what he saw and everyone immediately went into alert at that information.

Kise stood and Aomine turned to the direction pointed by Takao. Midorima visibly narrowed his eyes. "He's with someone." The tallest boy stated.

"Isn't that…?" Kise seemed to know the other guy that was walking just slightly in front of Kagami.

"Himuro Tatsuya from Yousen?" Aomine sounded rather unsure.

"Murasakibara's partner," Midorima nodded.

"Why is he walking with Kagami?" Takao was confused.

"I heard from Satsuki that they used to be very close when Kagami was still in the States," Aomine seemed thoughtful after that. "But they seemed to have a fall out before Kagami moved back to Japan, and Himuro came to Japan to have a match with Kagami or something…"

"Heeh? Aomine-chi, surprisingly you know a lot about them," Kise seemed to be impressed with his boyfriend.

"It's only a part of Satsuki's pointless data-gathering. It's not like I want to know when she starts babbling about the enemies' data, you know," Aomine sighed deeply.

"That girl's ability is very scary despite her cute looks…" Takao was crying literally at the very detailed information. He needed to be extra careful around her if he didn't want her to know every little secret he had.

"Ah!" Kise suddenly exclaimed and everyone turned to face the blond in surprise.

"What?" Midorima asked.

"They are arguing," Kise pointed and the others turned their gaze once again to Kagami and Himuro.

Kise was right. They seemed to be arguing about something. They couldn't hear what they were talking about, but they could see their expression clearly. Himuro seemed annoyed for some reasons and then… the unexpected happened.

Himuro stopped in front of Kagami and pulled the taller boy down for a kiss… on his mouth.

Aomine and Kise (and maybe Takao himself—wasn't sure since he couldn't see his own face) literally dropped their jaws on the ground and Midorima's spare glasses broke at that view.

Everything that happened after that was a blur as rage began to take control in everyone's mind.

"THAT BASTARD! He's cheating on Tetsu!" Aomine roared in total fury.

"Fufufu… unforgivable, Kagami-chi…!" Kise's eyes were teary, but also blazing with anger.

"I can't believe this…! Such despicable human being was chosen to be Kuroko's partner?" Midorima's eyes turned into slits as he stared murderously at Kagami and Himuro.

"Err…" Only Takao saw the real thing. Kagami didn't seem to appreciate the kiss at all. He even puked if that wasn't an act. But the others didn't seem to see that scene clearly, or they were already too blinded by their wrath to see the truth. "Um… guys?"

"We shall give Kagami a lesson, shall we not?"

The three GoM members faces were very scary as they said that, completely ignoring Takao's attempt to get their attention. Takao paled as he practically could feel the hostility.

_Oh, well… _Takao just prayed that Kagami was still alive after they were done with him. As much as Takao felt sorry for Kagami, he didn't want to lose his life defending him against those _monsters_. Thank you very much.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Kuroko and Murasakibara exited the teahouse after they, especially Murasakibara, were warmed up enough. Murasakibara held a bag of _chagashi_ (1) he had purchased earlier in the tea house. He also insisted to pay for Kuroko's cup of tea as well because he felt grateful to the smaller teen.

"I'm glad I met Kuro-chin today," Murasakibara said while nibbling at one of his chagashi. It was strawberry flavor and the texture of the cake was very soft and it tasted so delicious. He took note to visit the tea house again when he visited Tokyo next time just for the snacks. Moreover, Himuro would love to be there as well since the raven liked drinking tea.

Kuroko just gave him an even stare with a very tiny smile on his face. "I am glad to be able to help, somehow," the teal haired boy replied softly.

…

…

"So, what are you going to do now?" Kuroko asked after they had walked in silence for almost five minutes.

"Dunno. Maybe I'll just go back to Akita and wait until I see Muro-chin again on Monday in school. Then I'll apologize," Murasakibara said slowly. He actually wanted to see Himuro and apologize now, but he thought that Himuro wouldn't appreciate it if he interrupted his time with Kagami more than he already had.

"I see…" Kuroko nodded, shrugging slightly. "If you already decided…ow!" Kuroko suddenly yelped and immediately covered one of his eyes as a strong wind blew at the two boys.

Murasakibara stopped walking and turned to look at Kuroko who was covering his left eye. He looked somehow in pain. "What's wrong, Kuro-chin?" He asked, mildly concerned.

"Ouch… something got into my eye…" Kuroko rubbed on that left eye and the tears pooled there as the color around his iris turned rather red.

"Ah, don't rub it like that, Kuro-chin. You will hurt your eye," Murasakibara finished his chagashi in one gulp and put down the bag from his hand to the ground before he held onto Kuroko's wrist so the shorter boy wouldn't rub on his eye too much.

"Uh… Murasakibara-kun…?" Kuroko tilted his face up and closed his left eye which seemed to be still hurting and Murasakibara leaned down to inspect it.

"Open the eye, Kuro-chin," Murasakibara requested slowly.

"But…" Kuroko seemed reluctant.

"It's okay, I'll lick it off," Murasakibara said as he leaned even closer and opened his mouth.

"Eh?" Kuroko seemed to be surprised. "Wait a—Murasakibara-kun…!"

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

Himuro was on his way to find Murasakibara. He had phoned the central GPS database system in Japan and asked the operator for the location of Murasakibara since he had an actual authorization to monitor the taller teen, obviously because Murasakibara got lost very often.

Murasakibara's parents actually asked Masaki Araki, Yousen basketball team's coach to keep an eye on their son because they were kind of worried if Murasakibara was left alone without any supervision. Murasakibara was immature most of the time and they were afraid that he would get into trouble.

Masaki immediately gave Himuro the responsibility for that role after she witnessed how reliable Himuro was in handling Murasakibara in their daily life. Hence the permit to monitor Murasakibara's location via his cell phone GPS.

It was very handy now because Himuro needed to find Murasakibara quickly before the big baby froze to death in this freezing winter night.

"Sheesh… why is he such a handful most of the times?" Himuro sighed deeply as he stared at his cell-phone screen. The blipping light on the map showed Murasakibara's exact position so he followed the nearest route to get there.

Himuro was close to Murasakibara's position. He turned to the left and immediately spotted the taller guy. He sighed slightly in relief upon seeing that Murasakibara seemed to be okay and was about to call him when he witnessed something very peculiar and unbelievable.

There was a bag of sweets near Murasakibara's feet. Why was the bad on the ground? Looking up, he saw Murasakibara stand still with Kuroko in front of him. The smaller, teal haired teen closed his eyes, tilting his face up, standing on his toes. His wrist was in Murasakibara's grip and Murasakibara bent his body down, leaning so closely to Kuroko's face.

_Are they kissing?!_—the thought was fleeting through Himuro's disbelieving mind. He couldn't help widening his eyes in shock at that unexpected view and suddenly, there was something ugly scorching inside his heart, squeezing and piercing it to the point of pain and resentment.

Somehow, Himuro felt the sudden urge to yell and to part those two. There was anger as well, partly because that was _his Atsushi _for god's sake, and Kuroko already had Kagami, damn it!

_What the hell are they doing?!_

Well, against his better judgment, Himuro actually yelled "Atsushi!" and Murasakibara perked slightly at Himuro's call.

The tall violet haired boy turned to face Himuro's direction and his expression brightened slightly. "Muro-chin."

Kuroko blinked several times in front of Murasakibara, and Himuro immediately spotted his tears. He was honestly surprised. "Why is Kuroko-kun crying? What did you do?" He narrowed his eyes at the flinching Murasakibara.

Himuro was openly angry, really, because this situation was ridiculous. Why did Murasakibara kiss Kuroko anyway? And what was Kuroko crying for?

"Ah," Kuroko wiped the tears away from the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand. "It is not what you think, Himuro-san. Murasakibara-kun was just trying to get rid of the dirt from my left eye," he immediately explained.

"… Huh?" Himuro blinked, his anger evaporating instantly as he digested what Kuroko said.

"I licked it off of Kuro-chin's eye," Murasakibara said slowly.

"You lick—?" Himuro twitched at that, not knowing how to react.

"Murasakibara-kun, that was very unhygienic. Stop it," Kuroko turned to stare at Murasakibara, seemingly mildly annoyed before he rubbed at his eye some more to clean it.

"I'm sorry. But I don't know of another way to help," Murasakibara looked rather crestfallen.

"Why are you guys here then?" Himuro asked after that, rather confused of this surreal circumstances.

"Ah, we met accidentally," Kuroko answered calmly. Then he seemed to notice something. "A coat?" He pointed at the material on Himuro's arm.

"Oh, yes," Himuro just remembered what he had come out for in the first place. "Here, Atsushi. Wear these. You're always worrying me, you big baby. You will really catch a cold, you know," he then offered the sweater and the coat to Murasakibara while reprimanding him to take care better of himself.

"Oh, thank you Muro-chin," Murasakibara smiled as he received the sweater first. He immediately wore it before he also put on the coat. "It feels so warm…" Then he patted his own body with blissful expression.

Himuro smiled tiredly at that. "You okay?" He asked a couple of minutes later. He referred the question to not only Himuro's physical state, but also his mental state since Himuro had behaved rather rudely to Murasakibara earlier because he was surprised at being suddenly kissed.

Murasakibara held on to his small smile as he nodded. "Muro-chin makes me feel better," he replied softly.

Himuro suddenly felt the heat on his face. He hoped he wasn't blushing, but Kuroko's stare on him told him that he was. That was rather embarrassing. "Um… Kuroko-kun," he then turned to the quiet boy and smiled awkwardly. "Thank you for taking care of Atsushi."

"It is okay. Murasakibara-kun has been my friend since middle school," Kuroko replied evenly.

Even though Kuroko's voice and tone sounded calm, Himuro couldn't help detecting a hint of a point that he had known Murasakibara longer than Himuro had. Or, Himuro just felt rather paranoid for some reasons.

_Maybe it's because I still feel that Kuroko-kun dislikes me because I'm too close to Taiga… or because of the misunderstanding this morning?_

"Kuroko-kun… about this morning... it really was an accident. Taiga is not that smart to cheat on his lover and we aren't like that, trust me. He actually puked when I kissed him," Himuro chuckled.

There was a pregnant silence after that statement, before "You… kissed him?" Kuroko asked, painfully slowly and there was that eerie shadowy thing around him as his blank blue eyes quickly turned rather stony.

Murasakibara actually stepped back several steps with a pale face while a big bead of sweat rolled down Himuro's cheeks as he felt the temperature around them drop several degrees in response to those icy blue eyes glaring at him. He didn't intend to make Kuroko mad, really, but his mouth had just moved on its own accord and screwed things up.

"Kuro-chin… scary…. Why can I see Aka-chin behind Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara actually mumbled slowly in perplexity.

"It-it was just to test something, nothing serious. It proved exactly that he was repulsed by any other guy's kiss except you, Kuroko-kun. He loves you very much." Himuro immediately explained, though he was trying to be calm despite feeling slightly frightened.

Kuroko blinked once at that and the cold feeling was somehow instantly gone. The teal haired boy was looking another way, seeming to be self-conscious despite his expressionless face.

_Is he embarrassed?_—Himuro couldn't help smiling in amusement. Kuroko actually looked rather adorable like that even though he didn't show it much or often.

"I just want to make sure that you feel the same way about it," Himuro continued. "I believe you love Taiga just as much as he does you."

"I can assure you, Himuro-san. Kagami is my _all_," Kuroko once again turned to Himuro, giving the older boy a sure gaze.

Himuro smiled nicely in approval. He guessed Kagami had found a good partner and boyfriend. He could leave the redhead to Kuroko. The bluenette would take care of Kagami just fine.

Himuro then promptly turned to face Murasakibara and smiled fondly at him. "I have to apologize for being rude to you earlier outside Maji Burger," he said, his smile turning rather sheepish. "I wasn't mad. I was just… surprised."

Murasakibara shook his head slightly. "I have to apologize too," he said, looking deeply at Himuro's visibly dark-grey eyes, somehow looking earnest. "Kuro-chin said… it was normal if Muro-chin was surprised, because Muro-chin wouldn't understand unless I told Muro-chin first," he continued.

"Tell me what?" Himuro inquired wonderingly.

"That I'm… in love with Muro-chin," Murasakibara confessed and Himuro's heart skipped a beat as he heard it. "I love Muro-chin… and I want to monopoly Muro-chin's attention… that's why I was mad when you were being so close and chummy with Kagami…"

The more Murasakibara explained, the more heat rose from Himuro's chest. By the time Murasakibara finished, Himuro had the urge to hide his flaming face with both hands, but he didn't because that was too embarrassing to be done by a guy like him.

Why was Himuro getting worked up by Murasakibara of all people?

"_Maybe you've fallen for him too, but you just don't realize it."_

Kagami's voice rang in his ears, and as much as Himuro didn't want to admit it, that might have been the case.

"Muro-chin?"

Himuro snapped back from his train of thought and focused his gaze on Murasakibara's face. The taller, younger boy looked kind of concerned. Himuro sighed in defeat as he realized that Murasakibara didn't even remotely feel embarrassed despite all the embarrassing things he had spouted earlier. He had such a simple mind. Himuro almost envied his child-like thought.

Well, that was Murasakibara's endearing trait as well, though. He looked upward at the boy's dark violet eyes deeply as well before smiling slightly. He reached out his hands to put one on each side of Murasakibara's cheeks. He slowly lowered his gaze to Murasakibara's mouth and then pulled his face closer to his own.

"So… you love me?" Himuro asked lowly, rather huskily and it was probably just Himuro's imagination, but Murasakibara's breath hitched slightly as he bent down following the hands that pulled his face down, leaning more closely to Himuro's, while his left hand planted itself on Himuro's waist and the right one on Himuro back, slowly going up to the back of his head. "Then…" Himuro was slowly closing his eyes as he tilted his face up more, before closing their distance with another kiss.

Well, this time Himuro initiated it, so he was prepared to feel that amazing feeling again as their lips met. Murasakibara's lips were even warmer this time, and they were softer and moister, unlike before, probably because Murasakibara had rehydrated, somehow.

Himuro opened his eyes slightly to see Murasakibara's reaction. The boy looked rather surprised for a moment before he immediately closed their distance again, reconnecting, and this time it was wild.

Murasakibara's tongue licked at Himuro's bottom lip and probed rather roughly, demanding entrance and Himuro relented. This time, when their tongue met once again, they battled for dominance. Himuro could taste a tea flavor with a hint of milk and chocolate and a stronger strawberry essence. It was exquisite and Himuro moaned as that slick talented organ touched everything inside his mouth.

Himuro gasped for breath but Murasakibara kept following wherever his mouth went, so it was rather difficult to get some air into his lungs. Himuro felt lightheaded, not sure if it was from the lack of oxygen or because how _amazing_ the kiss was. He moaned again, a low guttural sound that he didn't believe he could make.

"Muro…chin…" Murasakibara sounded rather out of breath himself when he called his name lowly, almost sounding like a growl, and his eyes were unfocused. His face was flushing slightly and that view stole Himuro's heart as well as excited him further. Murasakibara looked so damn sexy like this. Himuro was curious what kind of expression Murasakibara would make in bed if his kissing face was already this _good_.

"Let's… let's change place…" Himuro's voice was breathy, low, and husky. He didn't want to admit it himself but… he sounded like he was inviting Murasakibara to do… more stuff.

That's when he remembered that they weren't alone. _Shit! Kuroko-kun is still here?!_—Himuro immediately put his hand on Murasakibara's face and pushed him away for a moment. Frantically, he looked around only to note that the other teen was already gone.

Himuro sighed in relief.

"Muro-chin?" Murasakibara asked, grabbing Himuro's hand and pulled it away from his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Atsushi. I thought Kuroko-kun was still here," Himuro huffed out a small sheepish laugh.

"Mm… Kuro-chin is quite considerate," Murasakibara mumbled with a small smile.

Himuro practically could feel himself blush as he thought that Kuroko must have seen them at some point and had decided to leave because he didn't want to interrupt. It was embarrassing, but Kuroko was very good. It was so easy to forget his presence there!

Kuroko had officially gained more respect from Himuro this time.

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

"Tatsuya…!" Kagami was very shocked as he read part of the letter that he could actually read and understand.

However, before he could think of it further, his apartment bell rang, totally surprising the redhead. Kagami hastily put the letter back inside the envelope and shoved the envelope back into Himuro's bag before he answered the door, lest it was Himuro outside his door.

Kagami opened the door "Yes?" and immediately saw _white_ as something was instantly covering his eyes. "What the—?!"

Kagami smelt something sweet before his eyes blurred and it was black after that.

**#**

Aomine visibly smirked when the redhead's body collapsed on the floor. He was unconscious already. He gave Midorima, who had covered Kagami's face with his white –_laced with chloroform_- handkerchief, a thumb up. Kise stared down at Kagami on the ground with hard eyes and Takao seemed very worried with what they had done.

"How long will he be out?" Aomine asked the bespectacled green haired teen.

"Half an hour if his metabolism is normal," Midorima pushed his glasses up with his bandaged fingers.

"Well then, shall we run the operation?" Aomine smirked again more evilly now.

"He'll pay for making Kuroko-chi cry," Kise was in his rare battle mode, just like when he was serious in a basketball match; and Kise in that mode was not to be messed with.

"I still don't think this is a good idea…" Takao tried to reason again, but even Midorima wouldn't hear him at that moment.

"Tying him up to a chair will be good, don't you think? Lest he tries to run away…" Midorima suggested.

"Shin-chan…" Takao looked at his boyfriend with pale face, genuinely looking scared.

Aomine and Kise grabbed Kagami's arms, one on each side, and pulled the Seirin ace inside his apartment. Midorima followed inside and turned to face his boyfriend with a glare. "You stay outside and give us a signal if someone comes," he said before slamming the door shut on Takao's face.

Aomine and Kise had already tied Kagami to a chair which Aomine had found in the kitchen. Midorima joined them in the living room soon after, looking around the place and inspecting carefully.

"Surprisingly, Kagami's apartment is quite tidy," Midorima said slowly.

"Maybe Tetsu helps him clean this place," Aomine scoffed.

"And Kagami-chi still has the nerve to cheat on Kuroko-chi?" Kise sounded very angry.

Then Midorima's sight landed on the bag on the couch. He raised his eyebrows as his interest was piqued. He poked the purple bag around and found the name tag on one side. He almost growled as he read the name. "It belongs to Himuo Tatsuya," he actually hissed, unable to contain his displease.

"What?!" Aomine immediately marched to the couch and opened the offending bag. "It's filled with clothes…!" He scowled in total annoyance then.

"Kagami-chi lets that guy STAY in his apartment?!" Kise almost dropped his jaw again but his expression immediately turned very furious. "Kagami-chiiii!"

"Maybe we should knock his unconsciousness off with a fist?" Aomine was ready to deliver a punch when Midorima noticed something.

"Wait," Midorima looked at the opened bag and saw the white envelope. He took it and inspected it for awhile before he opened and saw the letter as well. He read the letter and widened his eyes slightly.

"What, Midorima?" Aomine seemed to be impatient to just beat the shit out of Kagami until he noticed Midorima's surprised look.

"It's about Himuro Tatsuya… apparently, he's not what we think he is," Midorima showed the letter.

"What is that, Midorima-chi?" Kise asked, looking curious.

"It's a test result," Midorima paused.

"Of what?" Aomine seemed even more impatient now.

"Himuro Tatsuya… is actually a woman."

The bomb was dropped and both Aomine and Kise instantly screeched "WHAAAAAAAAT?!" in total shock and disbelief at the unexpected news.

**#**

Takao was surprised as he heard the bloody murder shriek from inside the apartment. His thoughts had turned to the worse, and he suddenly felt that he had to save Kagami no matter what. It wouldn't do any good for his boyfriend and his friends to commit a felony like 'murder' after all.

Takao pounded at the door. "Shin-chan! Everyone! Please don't do anything stupid!" He shouted, still pounding.

A short time later, someone opened the door. It was Midorima and he looked irritated. "You're noisy, Takao! Don't disturb the neighbors! Come inside!" the taller green haired teen scowled at Takao before pulling him inside and slamming the door shut once again.

Takao panicked slightly as he frantically looked around. He immediately noticed that Kagami was still unconscious on a chair, when his eyes caught Aomine and Kise, who looked like fishes out of water. "What happened?" he couldn't help asking as he realized that the scream didn't actually come from Kagami, but from the couple beside the redhead.

"We just found out that Himuro Tatsuya is actually a girl," Midorima pushed his glasses up his nose bridge again, looking slightly perplexed himself.

"WHAT?" Now it was Takao's turn to drop his jaw. "B-but… he... he looks like a guy! He had Adam apple! His chest is flat!" He immediately protested, because there was just no way Himuro could be a woman. Even though he looked slender and pretty, his built was a man's built!

"That's the thing… in medical world; there is a disease like this. Well, it's more like a congenital condition, though. Some call it intersexuality, but in the test result that Himuro got here, it classifies him into a specific category. He suffered from _hermaphroditic_ condition."

Half of Midorima's vocabularies went over Takao's head as he tried to digest the information. "Uh… Shin-chan, please use Earth language," he said, rather depressed that he didn't understand at all what Midorima was trying to say.

Midorima scowled again at Takao, grumbling before toning down the terminology. "Basically, Himuro has both male and female sexual organs. Although by the look of it, he had removed the woman's part. But his chromosome shows that he's an 'XX', so he's actually a woman."

"So… you said that he could be a woman if he wanted to, but he chose to be a man instead?" Takao asked again.

"From the test result, he was in hormone therapy for the past year. Maybe that was the reason why he is still in first year despite being older." Midorima said, seeming to be thoughtful all of sudden.

"Do-do you think Kagami knew about it?" Aomine suddenly asked after he seemed to have come back from his initial shock.

"Who knows? Maybe that's why he lets Himuro stay in his apartment." Midorima shrugged.

"Isn't this bad? I meant… what about Kuroko-chi?" Kise joined a short time later, but he looked like he was almost crying, seeming to be very worried.

Aomine and Midorima instantly glared at the still unconscious Kagami. "If he chose this Himuro freak over Tetsu because he's actually a woman…!" Aomine's expression was promising a painful death.

_Shit!_—Takao could feel the murderous aura from the GoM members and he just had to do something to keep them from committing a crime.

"Um… why don't we wake Kagami and ask him directly? It's pointless to just guess around without proof like this, right? RIGHT?" Takao was desperate.

There was a brief tense silence in the room before, "I'll get water to wake him up," Kise said before he walked into the kitchen to retrieve a glass of water from the sink.

Takao nodded and sighed in relief because they would speak to Kagami now… and wouldn't harm him… maybe.

**#**

Kagami was woken up rudely as he felt cold water hitting his face. He yelped slightly and frantically looked around unfocused before he felt a strain in his body. He looked down and frowned. Why was he tied to a chair?

"You woke up."

At the sultry voice that was very familiar, Kagami looked upward and met Aomine's scowling face.

"A-… Aomine? What—?!" Then he looked around to find the angry pouting Kise and a cold looking Midorima. "What the hell is this? Why are you guys here? Why am I tied to a chair, damn it!?" Kagami roared in confusion. He was sure that he was still in his apartment, but this situation was very alarming.

_What the hell happened here?!_

"You don't have a right to question us here, you cheating bastard! How dare you cheat on Tetsu!" Aomine's scowl grew deeper, if it was possible, as he grabbed Kagami's collar.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kagami was baffled at the sudden accusation. Cheating on Kuroko? Who the—him? Kagami?

"We're talking about Himuro Tatsuya, Kagami-chi! Why are you two-timing Kuroko-chi with him?!" Kise practically screamed near Kagami's ear. It was so loud that he thought his eardrum would explode from the sheer volume alone.

Kagami widened his eyes as he caught what Kise said. "Huuuuuuh?" He was very surprised and perplexed at that accusation. "Who is two timing Kuroko? Me and Tatsuya? Are you retarded? He's my _brother_!" Kagami exclaimed in disbelief.

"Not by blood, I presume, " Midorima narrowed his eyes as he spoke.

"Well, no, of course not, but he's like a brother to me, really!" Kagami argued.

"Like brother my ass! We saw you _kiss_ outside, you idiot!" Aomine growled now, totally looking enraged.

"Kiss… ah! That's not what happened!" Kagami immediately cursed inwardly at Tatsuya for causing this mess. "Tatsuya was just trying to prove that guys can kiss even though they don't love each other! I actually PUKED after that. It was disgusting!" He frantically explained.

"Umm… he's telling the truth. I saw him puke while you guys were busy planning to murder Kagami earlier," Takao raised his hand. Wait, Kagami just realized that the Shuutoku point guard was there as well.

Kagami nodded frantically. "I did! I puked! Seriously!"

Aomine and Kise gave Takao a disapproving glare. Midorima also glared at his boyfriend in annoyance. "Why didn't you say so from the start, Takao?" the bespectacled green haired guy reprimanded his boyfriend.

"But, but… you guys looked so scary…!" Takao actually hid behind Kagami who was still tied to the freaking chair. Was Takao an idiot too? He couldn't seek protection from the hostage, damn it!

_Why the hell am I being held hostage in my own freaking home?!_—Kagami couldn't help screeching in his head at the ludicrous situation, a big bead of sweat dropping from the back of his head.

"But still! Kagami-chi made Kuroko-chi cry! It's still unforgivable!" Kise cried in stubbornness.

"That's right! What the hell did you do to make Tetsu cry, you ass!" Aomine's grip on Kagami's collar tightened and the pull was harder.

Kagami widened his eyes again at that piece of information as the shock was rather overwhelming. "Cry…? Kuroko…?!" His heart felt the weight of guilt that struck like a hammer and he paled at that. "Oh god…! That bad…?" Now Kagami wanted to cry himself, and the others seemed to notice that.

"What happened, Kagami?" Midorima had the decency to show concern now.

"I… shit—!" Kagami gritted his teeth. "I should have run after him this morning…!" He sighed dejectedly now. "There was an accident this morning and Kuroko might have misunderstood what he saw…! Tatsuya was just being a jerk and we wrestled for awhile and Kuroko must have thought that we fooled around. It was really just an accident. There's nothing between me and Tatsuya, never was and never will!"

Kise seemed to try to look for lies in Kagami's expression, but he finally sighed in relief when he didn't find any. Of course, since Kagami didn't lie.

Aomine clicked his tongue, still looking dissatisfied even though his hostility was gradually disappearing. "But you… why are you calling that Himuro guy by his first name and calling Tetsu with 'Kuroko'?" the dark-skinned boy asked, still frowning deeply.

"Eh? But— Tatsuya and I have known each other and been brothers since were kids…" Kagami looked upward at the taller guy in confusion. Anyway, what did that have anything to do with Kuroko crying?

"You are an IDIOT, Bakagami-chi," Kise pouted at Kagami and the redhead twitched at the insult the blond had thrown in his name. "Don't you ever think that Kuroko-chi might be JEALOUS? He's your boyfriend for god's sake! Of course he'll get jealous if you're being so close to another guy!"

…

"Ah," now Kagami had caught up with what happened. So… Kuroko was jealous of Himuro? "But… there's no point of being jealous, right? I meant… Kuroko is my boyfriend, like you said, and Tatsuya is my brother. You can't compare familial love to romantic one, you know…"

"Then try to tell Kuroko that. You two need to speak," Midorima huffed, fixing his glasses position in exasperation.

"Well, I will as soon as you guys _untie_ me," Kagami threw a sarcastic retort after that. His arms and hands were aching now because the position was very uncomfortable.

Kise looked slightly sheepish at that, but Aomine still looked pissed. Midorima didn't seem to care and Takao was the only one who had the decency to help Kagami untie the rope.

"By the way, about Himuro… did you know that he was actually a girl?" Midorima suddenly asked and Kagami instantly remembered about the letter.

"Aaaah! That's right! The test result! What the fuck was that supposed to mean?! Why did the lab tech address Himuro as a 'Miss' and refer to him as a 'her'?!" Kagami was horrified at the thought. A girl… Himuro was secretly a GIRL? "Tatsuya HAS that thing between male legs, damn it!" He was officially freaking out.

"Calm the fuck down! There's an explanation to it!" Aomine chopped Kagami's head and while Kagami was nursing his abused top, Midorima proceeded to reveal what he had explained to the others earlier to Kagami…

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

It was nightfall when all the uninvited guests in Kagami's apartment decided to leave. Well, after making Kagami promise to call Kuroko immediately and apologize to the bluenette all the way for the misunderstanding, of course.

Kagami didn't expect to be visited by Kuroko soon after he had called him, though. He opened the door and Kuroko immediately hugged him. "Sorry," he mumbled, seeming to be regretful.

"I was the one who should apologize," Kagami stroked Kuroko's hair softly before closing the door. He brought Kuroko to sit on the couch.

Kuroko shook his head. "I… heard from Takao-kun… he said my ex-teammates ganged up on you. Are you okay?" Kuroko looked upward at Kagami's face after that, for once genuinely looking concerned.

"Well, getting tied up to a chair and being interrogated like a criminal was a new experience, though… but they didn't hurt me, not physically at least," Kagami sighed. Mentally he was quite scarred though, especially when they started talking about 'Kuroko crying' and 'Himuro being a woman', etc.

"I will make sure that they will learn their lesson the next time I see them," Kuroko's expression darkened slightly and Kagami really didn't like it when he saw that scary trait of him. Well, at least it wasn't aimed at him, but it still really felt like Akashi was there, somewhere, and it made him uneasy.

"How was your day, by the way?" Kagami asked, changing the subject while kissing Kuroko's soft hair. He still had Kuroko nestled comfortably in his arm, while his deft hands were slowly undoing Kuroko's coat and scarf.

"It was quite fun, actually," Kuroko snuggled closely to Kagami and let the taller boy work on his clothes. "We tried a lot of rides… and there's this amazing haunted mansion. Ah, and the Ferris wheel is awesome too. It is very big, and being high in the sky felt very wonderful."

Kuroko sounded kind of happy when he told the stories. Kagami was glad that he wasn't depressed all day. He had to thank those guys later for taking care of Kuroko when he was upset. "Sounds fun. Let's go there together next time," Kagami said after removing Kuroko's outer clothing. Now, the smaller teen was in his indoor clothes.

"Sure… but let's go on date _with just the two of us_," Kuroko said and Kagami suddenly understood why the shorter was angry in the first place. He had somehow tried to include Himuro when Kuroko was asking him on a date. Well, no wonder Kuroko was angry.

Kagami grinned slightly. "I'd like that too," he replied positively before leaning down to give Kuroko a kiss on his lips. Kuroko closed his eyes and audibly sighed as Kagami nipped at his bottom lip and he opened his mouth to let him in.

They were making out for awhile on the couch until Kagami felt the need to do more. "Stay the night…" he whispered in Kuroko's ear before licking the shell and nibbling at the corner slightly.

Kuroko gasped at that, and clenched at Kagami's clothes harder. "Eh? But… what about Himuro-san?" he asked slowly after that.

"Um… I believe he's enjoying himself somewhere…" Kagami's sweat dropped as he remembered Murasakibara and how he had kissed Himuro. He would ask for the update about their 'relationsip' tomorrow. Now Kuroko was more important.

"Ah… right. I met and talked to Murasakibara-kun on the way earlier… He said he had a fight with Himuro-san, but… Himuro-san came soon after and they were making out in public." Kuroko deadpanned as he told Kagami that.

Kagami snorted. "What… so Tatsuya finally admitted that he fell head over heels for Murasakibara," he shook his head after that.

"Kagami-kun knew?" Kuroko seemed surprised.

"Yeah, Murasakibara interrupted our bonding time and started kissing Tatsuya all of sudden in front of Maji Burger. Tatsuya was freaking out," he laughed lightly at the memory.

"From what I heard, you were the one freaking out," Kuroko huffed lightly.

"Well, they were almost doing indecent things in public. I had to stop them somehow because it was very embarrassing, you know. People were staring and I didn't want to associate with them when they were being shameless like that," Kagami sighed deeply in defeat.

"Well, then Himuro-san must be with Murasakibara-kun at this moment," Kuroko gave Kagami a kiss on his cheek.

"Don't think about them. Think about us," Kagami gave Kuroko a kiss on his neck in return. Kuroko moaned lightly as he sucked at the sensitive spot just above his vein and Kagami was getting excited by the second. He pulled back only to grab Kuroko and lifted him to his arms. "Bed," he declared and hurriedly ran to his room before closing the door.

Kuroko's cell phone was still on the couch, beeping….

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

In the mean time… the others are…

"Shin-chan, let me stay at your house tonight, neh?" Takao grinned while straddling Midorima whose glasses were loose on his nose.

"Eh?" Midorima blinked once before blushing lightly, but he looked confused as well. "Why?"

"I just want to," Takao tilted his head aside before he leaned to kiss the taller boy on the lips.

Midorima's hands were instinctively planted on Takao's hips in a surprised gesture. Takao made a pleased sound as he felt the other boy kiss back. Maybe they relationship would go somewhere this time.

As they were kissing each other, Takao's hands were roaming around Midorima's body slowly so he wouldn't alert the taller guy of what Takao had in mind

Then, Midorima's phone vibrated, but he was too preoccupied with Takao at that moment, so he didn't hear the device on the table…

**#**

Aomine was already trying to undress Kise when they stumbled onto Aomine's porch.

"Nn…! Ah, no…! Aomine-chi…!" Kise was trying to somehow stop Aomine for awhile, at least until they were inside.

"No?" Surprisingly Aomine did stop. "You don't want to?" His voice was lower, husky and Kise hitched as that voice did something strange to his stomach.

"Um… well… at least we should get inside first…" Kise blushed, fiddling with the hem of Aomine's collar. He would be lying if he said he didn't want to. After all, he really did love having sex with Aomine. He just wanted to be a little more discreet about their rendezvous.

Aomine smirked. "As your wish, _Prince_," he said before he swept Kise's feet off the ground and lifted him bridal style.

"Eh?!" Kise, of course yelped in surprise. But before he could protest, Aomine's mouth was already on his, kissing him deeply and blowing his mind away as the taller teen practically ran into the house.

Kise was wondering how Aomine could open the door in that kind of situation, but he just left that thought alone at the moment, putting it as one of the mysteries of the GoM members.

Aomine was even capable of removing their articles of clothing while lifting Kise and running to his bed. One by one those clothes dropped like flies on the floor and they were fully naked by the time Aomine closed the door to his bedroom.

Unheard by the two horny guys, their cell phones rang and vibrated from their pants pockets which were left in the hallway…

**#**

Murasakibara was comfortably snuggling against Himuro's naked body in the hotel bed. The older boy smiled softly at the fast asleep boy beside him. He gave Murasakibara a kiss on his hair before noticing that Murasakibara's cell phone was beeping.

The cell phone was too far away from his position and Murasakibara had established a strong hold on his waist, so he couldn't move to answer it. Well, Murasakibara could always check it tomorrow. It wasn't like the world would end if he didn't answer the phone this one time.

Himuro fell back to the pillow slowly, before snuggling Murasakibara's body as well. He looked upward at Murasakibara's sleeping face. He looked very cute like this. Himuro was glad that they could clear things up. He believed they would be happy from now on… together.

Himuro closed his eyes, not knowing what kind of storm would hit him and the others for actually ignoring that single call…

* * *

**~Murasakibara x Himuro~**

* * *

In Kyoto, in a certain boarding house of a private high school called Rakuzan High…

Akashi Seijuurou was looking at his cell-phone. His dichromatic eyes were boring a hole at the device on his hand. Even though his expression looked okay, there was no doubt that he was seriously pissed off.

"And I told them to answer my call in the first two rings…" Akashi mumbled slowly, venom dripping from every word he uttered. "To think that they would ignore _my_ call…"

Luckily, Akashi didn't have a roommate, or else that roommate would have been frozen to death by only looking at Akashi's features at that moment, because he was seriously scary.

"They need to be reminded of who owns them, apparently…" Akashi chuckled darkly as he closed the lid of his cell-phone. "Daiki, Atsushi, Shintarou, Ryouta and… Tetsuya."

**End of Part 5**

* * *

**End of Kiss Me Sweetly**

* * *

**Additional Note:**

**1)**_**Chagashi**_**: **a kind of sweet, a snack to accompany tea in traditional tea ceremony.

**A/N: **Okay~, so this is the last part for this installment. Like I said, a little bit of cliff-hanger with Akashi showing up at the end. I will start to write down the next installment of this mini-series project as soon as I have the time again, and the next fic will center in Akashi (but of course still with the other pairings showing up *grins*)

Thanks for your support until now. Meet you again in the next fic! XDD


End file.
